A Walk in the Dark
by Gamegirl27
Summary: He wasn't always the Pumpkin King. In fact, he wasn't always dead. He had a life, friends, a family... What happened to him...?
1. Poem: New Beginning

**Disclaimer:** Though I wish that I owned Nightmare Before Christmas, I don't. All that credit goes to the genius, Tim Burton.

**Author's note:** Yes, I know this is kind of a short and slow beginning, but I thought this poem would be cool. I promise that the first chapter will be up as soon as I get a chance to write. Please read, and if you would like, review, and I hope you enjoy.

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**Poem: New Beginning**

_Everyone knows that when someone dies_

_They go to Heaven or Hell for the rest of their lives_

_But if someone dies on a holiday_

_They go to that world and that's where they stay_

_Sure, you may say this is all just a dream_

_But this is how Jack Skellington became the Pumpkin King_

_How Cupid, Easter Bunny, and Thanksgiving Turkey bring holidays to the world_

_How Santa brings Christmas to every good boy and girl_

_Though Jack's story is my favorite, you don't want to hear_

_His is the saddest and most frightful story, I fear_

_What?! You want to hear the story now?_

_If you'll fall asleep? Don't ask me how_

_All right, child, sit down, no need to fuss_

_I'll tell you the story… if I must_

_But be forewarned, this story may cause a fright_

_Of how Jack Skellington died on Halloween night_


	2. Chapter 1: Plans for Fear

**Disclaimer: **Though I am in love with everything about this movie, I do not own anything from it. Blah!

**Author's note: **Hello, peoples! Sorry this one took a really long time to get up. It's not like I've been having writer's block lately, I just haven't had the urge to write. It's quite sad and I feel very empty inside. Anyway, I finally posted up the first chapter for **A Walk in the Dark**! YAY! I'm not sure how quickly these chapters will come up. I've tweaked the beginning of the story around a little bit so I need to rethink my previous plans. All I can say is I can't make any promises. Alrighty then, please read and maybe, hopefully review the first chapter. Enjoy!

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**Ch.1 – Plans for Fear**

Coleen brushed her long curly orange hair away from her face as she heard the familiar click of the library doors locking for the night. The twenty-three year old removed the key and tugged on the doors, making sure they were secure. Nodding in approval, she turned and began the descent down the small stone staircase that led to the sidewalk.

Though it was only six o' clock, the night sky was pitch black. A cool wind swept through the darkness, sending chills down Coleen's spine. She reached into her purse. When she felt the familiar form of her small container of pepper spray, she began her walk home.

Not being able to afford a car, Coleen had to resort to walking to work. Although it wasn't all bad, for she only lived a couple blocks away from the library.

As she walked the familiar path down Evans Street towards her house, strange sounds penetrated the silence of the night air. An owl's faint call, screeching tires in the distance, a stray cat rustling the branches of nearby bushes. On top of the sounds, shadows appeared to dance around in the moonlight, beckoning other shadows to join in.

All of these things were so familiar to Coleen, yet she felt more shivers crawling slowly down her spine. Every beat of her now racing heart sounded like a drum in her head.

"Why does the night seem worse when Halloween comes around?" Coleen spoke aloud, trying to distract her nervous thoughts from the frights of the night. She hated getting scared and her boyfriend was of no help in that category, especially around Halloween.

Halloween was in three days and she decided to shake off her nerves by thinking about what prank he was going to pull off this year. Though he was a master of terror, he acted like a little kid at Christmas on Halloween, and that brought a smile to her face.

After what seemed like hours, Coleen could finally see her house. Her small white ranch house with the large window jutting out of the front. The porch light shone above the light blue front door, leading into the comfort of… Light?

"I don't remember turning that light on before I left," Coleen glanced around nervously. No one was out; at least, not that she knew of or saw. She slowly climbed her porch steps, looking every which way for a possible intruder.

Her fears began to subside as her gaze rested on the many warm lights that emanated from her neighborhoods' windows. Everyone was inside, all warm and protected from the bitter fall night outside.

Coleen smiled as she pulled her house key out of her purse and pushed it into the front door bolt. "It'll be nice to curl up under a warm blanket and just watch a good movie."

As she went to turn the key, a sudden loud cracking sound pierced the air, echoing into the night. Coleen froze, the key stopping in mid-turn. She turned around slowly, not even daring to breathe, and peered into the darkness. The light that emanated from her porch showed nothing out there.

_It's just an animal… _Coleen shakily tried to reassure herself. _It's just an animal… _But then, another crack like the braking of bones was heard, and this sound was even closer to her than the first.

"Hello?" Coleen croaked as her voice came out as a mere whisper. Hands trembling, she reached into her purse once again. Her fingers wrapped tightly around her pepper spray as she brought it out, ready to protect herself from this unseen force.

Hesitantly, she stepped towards the edge of the house porch, peering into the night. Mustering up the little courage she had left, she spoke the one word she could say a little bit louder. "Hello?"

As her voice carried on into the night, a loud sound was heard as something came crashing down from the roof right in front of Coleen. She let out an ear-piercing scream as she saw that a body lay on the ground. A very bloody body with disproportioned body parts.

Not wanting to see if she even recognized who the dead person was, Coleen quickly ran for the front door. Before she could grab the doorknob, a rough hand grabbed her shoulder and spun her around. She screamed again as a man with dirty blonde hair and an axe going right through his skull stared at her with wide frightened eyes.

"You can't stop… him…" The man gasped as he sunk to the ground. "You… can't…"

Wanting to escape the nightmare taking place right before her eyes, Coleen reached for the doorknob once again. She yanked and pulled, but it wouldn't open. Having forgotten she hadn't unlocked it, she went to turn the key, but all she grabbed was air. The key that had been sticking out of the door not even two seconds ago was not gone.

"Looking for this?" A raspy voice called out from behind.

Desperately not wanting to turn around, Coleen forced herself to. She slowly moved her body around until she faced the new figure. The thin figure was very tall, well over six feet, dressed from head to toe in black. Splotches of a dark red substance could be seen covering his body, probably the blood from his victims. A white mask hid his true identity and within his gloved hand, a small key floated before Coleen's eyes. She stood frozen in place as she saw her safety, her protection, glittering at her in the hands of this killer.

Having dropped her pepper spray, Coleen began to back up towards the door. Her pale green eyes were wide with fear as the figure began to inch closer to her. Her back hit wood, the killer now hovering over her small form.

He leaned in close so his masked face was now just inches away from hers. His gloved hand came up and began to stroke her delicate chin. Coleen could feel his hot breath coming through his mask and going down her neck, sending chills down her spine for the hundredth time that night. She couldn't say anything; she didn't have the courage to. Closing her eyes was all she could think of as she waited for that fatal blow to fall.

"Got you," the figure whispered into Coleen's ear.

That voice. Coleen's eyes flew open as she recognized the now soothing voice coming from behind the mask. Suddenly, snickering could be heard coming from the two "dead" men nearby. Anger welled up inside her as Coleen finally realized what was really going on. She reached for the figure's mask and tore it off, revealing an all too familiar pale face with sapphire blue eyes and spiky jet black hair smiling at her.

"Jack!"

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"Come on, Coleen," Jack Shelton followed his fuming girlfriend around her small house. "It was just a joke."

Coleen's pace came to an abrupt halt as she turned; arms crossed, and faced Jack. "Listen, Jack. I know Halloween is your favorite holiday, but what you did right now was cruel, to me!" Her voice trembled with anger, the fear that had flooded inside her now gone.

"But you believed it to be true!"

"Because it all looked so real!" Coleen turned her gaze away from Jack. A long sigh escaped as she pinched the bridge of her nose, attempting to calm down. "You know I get scared easily," she whispered. "You know."

Believing a prank to be true was all the more fun of getting scared, but Jack did know that his girlfriend was rather touchy about it. He knew she didn't like to be scared, he was just having some fun. Wasn't everybody?

He let out a sight as he stepped closer to her. He gently wrapped his arms around Coleen and held her close to his chest. "I'm sorry. I promise I won't do any more tricks on you. And if I break my promise, you have permission to slug me."

Coleen pulled away from Jack's embrace and gazed into his deep blue eyes. He had the ability to sweet-talk anyone with his voice of honey. She had always known that about him, yet she fell for it every time. A small smile threatened to escape as she attempted to remain serious. "Promise?"

"Cross my heart and hope to die."

"Leave the 'die' part out, and I'll forgive you," the smile broke through as she stood on her toes and planted a small kiss upon Jack's lips. "How was I ever able to meet someone like you?"

"I don't know," Jack picked Coleen up and held her in the air. "Maybe it was my good looks. My charm, perhaps."

"Or maybe it's that ever-growing ego that makes your head seem bigger."

"Hey!" Jack smiled, planting a kiss on her cheek then setting her feet back on the ground.

Coleen winked at Jack, then turned and headed for the kitchen. As she gazed upon the contents that lined the inside of her refrigerator, she spoke over her shoulder. "I guess I have to admit, that was a pretty good prank. Best one you've come up with so far."

"I wouldn't say the best, but that was just a warm-up," Jack bounced into the kitchen after her, becoming excited as he talked like an over-eager child at Christmas. "Come Halloween, we're going all out and not holding back. So listen. Sam, Adin, and I were going to do the same prank we did on you, but a hundred times better and a hundred times scarier. We need your house to…"

"No!" Coleen abruptly turned from the fridge, a plate of pizza slices in her hand. "You're not going to scare the children that live here!" And just because she wasn't mad at Jack anymore, didn't mean she wasn't furious with his childhood scaring partners.

"But your house is the perfect place to pull this prank off!" Jack pouted.

After sticking the pizza in the microwave, Coleen turned and faced Jack again. "Look, this neighborhood is filled with kids from the ages of two to twelve. They come to my house every year expecting candy. If they witness what I just say, they will never sleep again. And I really don't want to hear the earful I'll get from their parents."

Hanging his head in defeat, Jack nodded. "All right, we'll just find another place."

"Thank you," Coleen smiled as she gave Jack another kiss. As she turned to the beeping sound of the microwave, she got a great idea of how to life her boyfriend's spirits. "Say, why settle for scaring in a small Indiana town like this, when you could scare double the amount of people in Chicago?"

Jack lifted his head, his eyes growing wide with interest. "I'm listening…"

"Why not try your parent's house? They have plenty of preteens for you to scare in their neighborhood. You can take Adin and Sam with you. Plus, I think Monique would be very happy to see her big brother again."

The more Jack thought about Coleen's idea, the more he loved it. Why settle for the little town of Portage when you could go to a city?! Also, seeing his kid sister would really be the icing on the cake. _This Halloween is going to be the best one yet! _


	3. Chapter 2: Last Reunion

**Disclaimer:** I still do not own anything from Tim Burton or The Nightmare Before Christmas, but I do enjoy watching his movies.

**Author's Note:** Alright, my plan to update every story over spring break didn't really work out the way I planned. I got too lazy, blah! But I was able to write a bunch of summaries for my stories, mostly for this one. Sorry this took so long to get up. I was either stuck on what to write, or I was too busy writing papers for school. Just 8 more weeks till summer and then I will write a heck of a lot more. Just please bear with me and I will get the next chapter up as fast as school will allow me. The joys of being a junior. XP Enjoy!

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**Ch. 2 – Last Reunion**

Rush hour. No one can quite figure out how to beat it. Everyone leaves their homes bright and early to depart for their daily jobs. But the problem is, everyone leaves at the same time. Traffic backed up as far as the eye can see; cars and trucks are inching along the concrete, going a whole five miles an hour; numerous blaring horns fill the air as the drivers grow frustrated and impatient.

Finally, two hours after what should have only taken one hour, everyone reaches their destinations. People begin to calm and recollect their thoughts so they can carry on with their daily duties without being distracted.

A long day goes by. People's eyes wonder towards the clocks, the second hand seeming to be at a standstill. Their eyes drift from clocks to windows, waiting for the light outside to begin to fade, signaling to them that they are almost done.

The familiar chimes of multiple clocks sound off. Five o' clock. People silently cheer within their minds as they rush to gather their belongings. Quickly, quickly. Everyone is fumbling with their keys, trying to start their vehicles. Hurriedly, they zoom back out onto the streets.

The roads are clear. Smiling to themselves, people believe that they have accomplished the impossible… wrong. They turn a corner and their foot immediately slams on the brakes. Gazing through other's windows, everyone can see everyone else banging their heads against the vehicle's steering wheel, all asking the same question as they whine about the endless sea of automobiles stretched out before them. _Why?_

In most cases, rush hour only really happens twice a day. But in the city, every hour is rush hour, no matter what time you leave.

A dark green minivan sat amongst the traffic of the day, inching along Michigan Avenue, attempting to reach the outskirts of Chicago to return home.

"I told you we shouldn't have gone this way, Michael!" A very irritated Jasmine Shelton clutched the wheel, her knuckles turning white from squeezing it.

"It's only two-thirty," Michael Shelton hastily spoke up to defend himself. "How was I supposed to know traffic would be this bad this early in the afternoon?!"

Jasmine's head jerked towards her husband sitting in the front seat, her nostrils flared as she tried not to explode. "Well, let's view our options, shall we? One… it's SATURDAY afternoon… and two… IT'S HALLOWEEN!"

Michael rubbed his left ear as his wife's loud voice rang through his brain. He could've sworn he felt his eardrum vibrating.

"I'm the driver, so next time, I pick which way we go, got it?!" Her right foot twitched, ready to press down on the accelerator.

Michael turned so he now faced the window on his right. In a small voice, he mumbled, "You didn't _have _to listen to me."

"What was that?!"

"Oh, look! We're moving."

"Finally!"

The cars in front of the Shelton's began to accelerate. The towering buildings were behind them now as Michigan Avenue came to an end.

Sighing in relief, Michael reached over and rubbed the back of his wife's neck. Feeling the tension leaving her neck relieved him even more. He knew one thing that most men lived by: never, ever piss a woman off. He knew the faster she calmed down, the better off he would be.

"Feeling better?"

"A little," Jasmine's eyes never strayed from the road. She appeared to be calming down, but her voice still held on edge of frustration.

"Would you like some 'happy pills'?"

"No. Just grab my coke from the back, please."

Nodding, Michael turned around in his seat. "Monique? Can you hand me your mother's coke?"

Thirteen-year-old Monique Shelton did not answer her father's question, nor could she even hear the question. Her long straight black hair draped over her ears, hiding the headphones that were resting within them, linking her to the music from her silver Nano. Her blue eyes were locked onto her window, watching every house, car, and tree that passed by.

"Monique? Monique!" Michael waved his hands around, trying to get his daughter's attention.

Finally turning her gaze, Monique removed one of the ear buds from her right ear. "Huh? Did you say something, Dad?"

"Can you pass me your mother's coke?" Michael gestured towards the half empty 20 oz coke sitting in the backseat cup holder.

Monique looked at her father, then to the coke in the cup holder beside her. "You could've reached it. It's not that far away from you."

"It's closer…," Michael sighed. "Will you just give it to me?"

"All right. Don't have a cow," Monique showed no emotion as she handed the bottle up to her impatient father. She then returned the dangling ear bud back to its rightful place and continued to gaze out the window.

"I swear, that girl…" Michael said in a low tone as he unscrewed the cap for his wife.

"Take it easy, Michael. It's your turn to relax."

The remainder of the car ride was silent as the atmosphere within the van began to grow steady and calm. Making one more left, the Shelton's were now on South Prairie Avenue, pulling up to house number 3125.

"What the?!" Michael sat straight up in his seat as he leaned over his wife to stare out her window. Parked in the street in front of their small, blue-tinted ranch house, was a black Dodge Durango. But parts of the Durango were tinted a blood red, a thick liquid rolling down the windows and doors, staining the street below the massive truck. A back seat window was rolled down slightly, a battered arm dangling lifelessly out of it.

Monique let out a startled yelp as she closed her eyes and quickly turned her head away from her window.

"I wonder what happened?!" Michael continued to stare in horror. "Hurry, honey, pull in. I want to see if anybody's alive in there."

As Jasmine pulled the van up their driveway, Michael hastily unbuckled his seatbelt and reached for the door handle.

"Umm, honey?" Jasmine began to speak to her husband. Her voice held no horror, no note of urgency; her emotions were unfazed.

Before she could finish her sentence, a horrible scream wailed from outside. The unknown scream was followed shortly after by Michael and Monique's own screams. Their eyes were wide in horror as they pointed at a masked figure that was standing in front of their van.

Jasmine sighed and shook her head as she unbuckled her seatbelt. "It's just Jack," she finally able to finish. Pressed deeply into the fabric of the car seat, Michael watched Jasmine get out of the car and approach the masked man, eyes wide with horror, his hand clutching his heart as he struggled to breathe in normally.

"Hi, sweetie. Happy Halloween."

Jack removed his mask revealing a big toothy grin and sparkling sapphire eyes hiding behind it. He leaned down to his mother's height, her head just skimming his shoulder, and wrapped his arms loving around her. Jasmine followed suit as she embraced her son.

"Jack!!" Jack uncoiled from his mother's arms and gazed towards the familiar green minivan. He couldn't help but laugh as he watched his younger sister's battle with her seatbelt. She couldn't move fast enough as she struggled to escape from the belt's grip. Finally freeing herself, Monique flew out of the sliding door and rushed towards her older brother.

Kneeling down, Jack opened his arms, waiting for his sister to run into them.

"Hey, Momo!" Jack lifted Monique into the air, hugging her tightly. She returned it equally as tight, not wanting to let her brother go again. Who could blame her? They had found and developed that strong sibling bond that is rarely found amongst families anymore. Monique was his little dreamer and Jack was her hero. But since Jack left to find his place in the world, Monique wasn't able to see him all that much. Sure, he visited on holidays and periodically throughout the year, but it wasn't on a daily basis.

After what seemed like an eternity, Monique pulled away, her blue eyes locking with Jack's. "Where are Sam and Adin?!" The preteen asked eagerly. If Jack was here on Halloween, then his partners-in-crime must have been there as well.

Not able to wipe the smile from his face, Jack pointed to the blood black Durango that was parked in the street. As soon as he had lowered her to the ground, Monique took off at a run, quickly closing the gap between her and the immobile vehicle. "Creeps!"

Two heads appeared from the open backseat window. Adin with his dirty blonde hair and tan skin and Sam with his messy, dark brown hair and chocolate brown eyes.

"Monster!" The two adults called simultaneously as they leaned out the window to embrace the over-excited preteen. Using their nicknames for each other was big fun for the three, for Sam and Adin were like Monique's other brothers and vice versa.

"So let me take a wild guess," Jasmine began as she smiled knowingly at her trickster son. "Coleen wouldn't allow you to scare the children of her neighborhood, so you decided to come here instead?"

"Aw, can't a man stop by to visit his family now and again?"

"Jack…"

"All right, all right. You hit the bull's eye," Jack cringed as his mother pulled off the 'guilt look' that she had used on him since he was in elementary school. "But honestly, I did want to see you guys. Plus, I wanted to surprise Momo."

Jasmine chuckles. "Well, you got a bonus. You surprised her… and your father."

Realizing his father had not come out to greet him, Jack glanced back towards the van. Through the windshield, Michael's horror stricken expression had not changed and he had not moved an inch.

"Hmm… I wonder if I scared him?" Jack joked, chuckling as well.

"I wonder if you killed him," Jasmine crossed her arms as she continued to stare at her husband.

"Hey, Dad! You going to be coming out of there anytime soon?"

Shaking his head, Michael snapped out of his trance. He took in a few deep breaths as he slowly climbed out of the front seat. His eyes narrowed as he shot a glare at his son. "Must you always do that, Jack?!"

Jack replied by simply shrugging his shoulders. "It's Halloween. Live a little."

"Why weren't you scared?" Michael asked, shifting his gaze from his son to his wife.

Jasmine mimicked Jack's actions by shrugging her shoulders as well. "I know what's coming, I guess. It's like I'm expecting it."

"I swear, boy," Michael clutched his chest again. "You're going to give me a heart attack before I'm fifty."

"Come on, Dad, you know me. I've been scaring since I was three."

"Nice rhyme there, Jack," Sam joked as he and Adin approached the family gathering from their truck. Monique was slung under Sam's arm, being carried around like a bag.

Jasmine smiled warmly, "Hi, boys." Adin and Sam had come by so many times to hang out with Jack as they were growing up, they basically lived at their house. She even considered them her adoptive sons.

"Good afternoon, Mrs. Shelton," Adin bowed courteously.

"Can I stick my luggage inside?" Sam smiled, motioning to the thirteen-year-old that hung, giggling, under his arm.

"The more the merrier," Jasmine gestured towards the small ranch house standing behind her.

"Oh, oh, oh, wait, Mom!" Monique squirmed, trying to break free from Sam's grasp. After placing her down, she ran to her mother, a look of longing in her blue eyes. "Can I pleeeeeeeeeeeeease go trick-or-treating with Jack tonight?!"

Worry outlined her face as Jasmine's eyebrows furrowed. She knew that for the longest time, Monique had wanted to spend a Halloween night out with her brother. But her motherly instincts continuously pressed her to keep her daughter protected from the cruel pranks that Jack and his friends loved to pull off every year. "Well…"

"Come on, Mom." Jasmine turned towards Jack. A smile remained pasted on his face while he allowed his entrancing sapphire eyes to do the work, urging his mother to allow Monique to go with him. "She'll be safe with me. It's just for one night."

The overprotective mother went back and forth between her son's urging gaze and her daughter's pleading stare. Letting out a sigh, she gave a small nod. "All right. Just for one night."

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Twilight was casting its last rays of sunlight upon the land, calling forth the darkness of night. This also signaled the beginning of an incredible night of mayhem; a night full of fear, terror, screams, tricks, and, of course, lots of candy.

Crowded around the large mirror of the master bathroom, Jack, Sam, and Adin covered their faces with make-up and fake blood. Their hands shook, excitement taking over as they eagerly awaited the evening's events.

"Now that Monster's with us, this will be even more of a thrill," Adin smiled, preparing the axe that was supposedly sticking out of his skull. "She's always been such a good sport about all this stuff."

"Oh, man. I know we've been saying this the entire ride here," Sam chuckled, ripping his costume and smearing fake blood all over his body, "but this is going to be the greatest Halloween ever! So great, we might even get to see the Pumpkin King!"

At the mention of the King of Nightmares, both Sam and Adin's eyes widened with excitement, like little children seeing their gifts on Christmas morning.

The reflection from the giant mirror showed Jack rolling his eyes as he brought his hands up to rub his temples. "Please don't tell me you guys actually believe in those myths?!"

Nodding simultaneously, the two young men showed no sign of embarrassment. They weren't afraid to express their beliefs in mythological childhood fantasies.

"I hear his scream can make even the braves man cower like a small child."

"I hear he can bring your worst fears to life."

"I hear two idiots rambling on about a fictional childhood entity." Jack's comment went unheard as Sam and Adin pressed on.

"Oh, man. That's a scary thought," a shiver raced down Adin's spine. "If he could bring your worst fears to life, I wouldn't even be alive. Dogs would've been the cause of that, mercilessly shredding me apart."

"You think you've got it bad?" Sam showed a visible shudder, frightened like Adin was. "I'd be trapped in a water-filled box, slowly suffocating. Suffering until every last breath was taken from my drowning corpse."

"Wow, you guys are stupid!"

Both Sam and Adin stared at Jack as he shook his head. "Even if this 'Pumpkin King' was real, you shouldn't be revealing your worst fears aloud!"

"It doesn't matter if you say them aloud or within your head," Sam crouched down low, hunching his back and speaking in a low, monotone voice. "One look at you… and he just knows." He then straightened up and crossed his arms before him. A smile crossed his face, he seemed pretty proud of himself. "Now _that _is talent."

Jack answered by rolling his eyes and turning back to his reflection. He didn't believe in all of the childish nonsense, but the talk of fears that now haunted the room slowly made his face drop. His own fears were rising to the surface.

_What if I was unable to protect my parents? Sam, Adin, Coleen… Momo? _Jack thought nervously. _I wouldn't be able to live with myself. I would want to die, but not to be burned… Oh God… _

Closing his eyes and shaking his head, Jack wanted the terrible images that now flooded his mind to drift away. He tried to change the subject as inconspicuously as possible, so he started to laugh.

"So, what are you guys telling me? You believe in Santa Claus, too?!" He joked.

Jack continued to laugh until he realized that he was the only one doing it. Sam and Adin remained quiet, avoiding eye contact with their tall companion.

"Guys!"

"Sorry, Jack," Adin apologized, though he was unsure as to why shortly afterwards, "but we know all those myths are real."

Sam immediately jumped in, not caring for the subject that was now at hand. "I heard…"

"Oh, great! More rumors!"

"Ha, ha, very funny," Sam stated sarcastically, his turn to roll his eyes. "Anyway, I heard there's a world for every holiday. Like, the Pumpkin King lives in the Halloween World and such. And each world lives on, not knowing anything about the other holidays."

"Stupid!" Adin was too quick for Sam to stop the hand that collided forcefully with his head. "Of course they would know about other holidays! They're just so busy working on their own holidays that they don't bother to acknowledge the others."

Jack chuckled again. This was providing much entertainment to his evening. "And how do you guys know so much about these so-called 'holiday worlds'? Have you ever been to one?"

"Well, no, but not many people have the opportunity to see, let alone live, in one of these holiday worlds. The only way anyone can see those worlds, is if you died on that holiday."

The sound of heavy footsteps came running down the hall towards the master bedroom. Racing through the room, dodging the bed and dresser, Monique appeared at the doorway to the bathroom.

She was already in her costume, a demon angel, Jack presumed. A long, satin black rob flowed to the ground, red trimming outlining the bottom of the robe and her long sleeves. A pair of red dragon-like wings rested upon her upper back while a small set of demon horns sat atop her black hair.

"Wow, you guys are slow!" Her face was glowing. "C'mon. It's seven-thirty and the kids have already started! Let's go!"

Thankful for his sister's interruption, Jack smiled as he took her small hand within his large, gloved one. "All right, let's go." He briefly glimpsed over his shoulder as he brought the white mask down from the top of his head to cover his face. "While you guys continue on with your imaginations, we're going to attempt to pull off one of the greatest pranks ever."

"Hey!" Sam and Adin stumbled over each other, trying to get through the doorway first. "Wait up!"


	4. Chapter 3: Unleash the Horror

**Disclaimer: **Even after this long period of not updating my story, I still do not own Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas. Poo...

**Author's Note: **I know, I know, you all hate me for taking a really long break from writing. You don't know how stressful it's been for me lately, especially since I'm nearing the end of my junior year in high school. Reality sucks! So, I thought I'd loose myself in one of my stories to try to forget everything and this just happened to be that lucky story. I shall update the other ones soon and hopefully put up some new ones. Anyway, please read and review this chapter and I will hopefully update soon. Key word: _hopefully. _

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**Ch. 3 – Unleash the Horror**

The screaming of children filled the night air, clearly announcing that it was Halloween night. Traveling from house to house, children were either receiving candy, filling up their large buckets or pillowcases with sweets and sugar. Or, they were being scared; unknown figures popping out of dark corners and hidden crevices to surprise their unexpecting victims.

Among the many screams of the night, and unexpected gunshot suddenly penetrated the air, breaking the sound barrier. Soon after the fire, three young adults and a preteen were running as fast as they could through the streets of downtown Chicago.

"Maybe we should've stayed at your parent's place, Jack!" Sam panted. "You know, just stuck with the original plan of doing the prank there?"

Jack attempted to shrug his shoulders as he pushed back the pain throbbing through his tired legs. "That guy just wasn't in a Halloween mood."

"You 'threatened' that guy's child!" Adin chimed in, agreeing with Sam.

"It was part of the prank!"

"He was a cop! He began shooting at us before we even got a chance to explain!"

Sliding along the loose gravel on the road, the four veered left and began to run through a junkyard sitting along the bank of Lake Michigan. They jumped over many different objects and dodged looming piles of garbage.

"Jack! I can't… I can't run any-anymore!" Monique panted as she collapsed on the ground near one of the many trash piles scattered around the junkyard. Her fake horns had fallen off her head and she reached back to remove her bent wings as her chest heaved from lack of oxygen.

Jack skidded to a stop. Sam and Adin, not being able to stop fast enough, ran into his back.

"I-I don't think anyone is… following us," Sam panted, bending over in pain as his head glanced behind them.

"All right," Jack walked over to where Monique now sat and collapsed next to her. "Ten minute break."

Sam and Adin hobbled over to the siblings and like them, collapsed to the ground. Adin removed the fake axe from his head while Jack took off the white mask that veiled his face.

Turning the mask every which way in his hands, Jack spoke his thoughts aloud. "Well, at least our costumes covered up who we really are so that cop can't hunt us down."

Murmurs of agreement traveled around the small group.

"Maybe…" Adin spoke softly. "Maybe we shouldn't go hard core on pranks anymore."

"Are you kidding?! The world isn't ready for the tricks we have hiding up our sleeves. That's what makes it so much fun!" Jack smiled, his eyes sparkling with enthusiasm.

Managing a smile, Sam and Adin nodded in unison. They knew they weren't as excited because they were just tried, knowing a good night's sleep would perk them back up the next day.

"Well, I don't know about you creeps," Monique said, "but I'm done pranking for the night."

__________________

The moon shone brightly upon the large city. The screams of the night had slowly died away as a clock was heard in the distance, eleven chimes breaking the silent night air.

Still resting amongst the city's garbage, Jack, Sam, Adin, and Monique had not moved a muscle. Monique's mouth opened wide, unleashing a long, tired yawn as she leaned heavily against her older brother. Her lashes brushed the tips of her cheeks, her eyes threatening to close any moment.

"All right. We've had our fun for tonight. Let's go home." Jack stood up, scooped Monique into his arms, then began to walk towards the way they had run in.

"Yeah," Sam stretched his arms and legs as he stood up. "I'm pretty tired from all that running."

"Same here," Adin agreed as he followed his two friends.

Suddenly, a low growl broke the silence of the night. Another growl joined the first, causing the three men to stop dead in their tracks.

"What was that?!" Monique whispered, her eyes now wide open, her body shaking within Jack's grasp.

The growls penetrated the air again, this time much closer and much more threatening. Turning slowly, four pairs of eyes grew wide upon seeing two large German Shepards creeps out of the shadows. Their hair looked greasy and covered in grime. They barred their sharp white teeth towards the humans.

Wetting his lips, Jack swallowed the lump that had lodged its way into his throat. "Guys, we have to run," he whispered, his grip tightening around his sister as he slowly began to inch backwards.

Without warning, the dogs lunged forward.

"Run!" Jack and Sam quickly turned away from the animals and began to run.

A few steps was all it took for Jack to realize that Adin wasn't running with them. He skidded to a stop and turned back to see his friend rooted in the same place, his eyes wide with fear. The ravenous dogs were nearly on top of him now.

"Adin! Move!"

Jack saw Adin's head shaking back and forth, snapping out of his terror. He saw the two large German Shepards only feet away from where he stood. Frantically, he tried to run any which way to escape, but the dogs were faster as one of them jumped on top of the man, knocking him to the ground, and followed closely behind by its companion.

"Adin!" Monique cried out as she buried her face into Jack's coat.

"Sam! Take her!" Knowing he had to act quickly, Jack quickly lowered his sister to the ground. Then, he sprinted toward Adin, calling over his shoulder to the two behind him, "Run! Now!"

"Jack!" Monique tried to go after her older brother, struggling against the firm grip Sam now had on her arm.

"No! You'll be in danger, too!"

"But…"

"He'll be fine! Now come on!"

Forcefully being pulled away from her brother, Monique ran with Sam.

Approaching Adin quickly, Jack immediately wrapped his arms around the nearest dog. He struggled as he tried to lug the heavy creature away from his friend, but as soon as he took two steps, the dog within his grasp squirmed free and lunged again. He tried again, the dog did the same thing. No matter what Jack did, the dogs would never bite him nor attack him. They always went after Adin.

"What the heck is going on?!"

…_I wouldn't even be alive. Dogs would've been the cause of that, mercilessly shredding me apart…_

Jack blinked as he remembered what Adin had said earlier. What were the odds that his fear would become a reality?

Noticing Adin wasn't fighting back as much anymore, Jack hastily rummaged through the nearby piles of garbage for something, anything he could use to try and kill the dogs.

Upon searching, he stepped on a glass bottle and slipped, crashing to the ground. He looked at it for a split second, grabbed it, and got back up as he focused in on his two targets.

He tried once more, gripping one of the dog's rough hide and wrenching it away from Adin. Before it could escape again, Jack barely managed to bring the bottle he now held up and smash it upon the animal's thick skull.

As the glass bottle shattered, one of the loose shards from it lodged its way through the dog's skull and pierced its brain. With the instant kill, the German Shepard fell limp in Jack's arms.

"One down…" Jack pushed the corpse aside and went after the remaining attacker.

Having more difficulty pulling the last one off, Jack took firm hold of the crazed animal, then, with the reminder of his strength, he dragged it to an old refrigerator leaning against one of the many garbage piles bashed its head roughly into the door. The force of the impact wasn't enough to kill the dog, but it did fall to the ground unconscious.

Breathing out a sigh of relief, Jack turned to Adin. The tension came back as he realized his friend wasn't moving.

"Adin?!" Jack knelt down beside his fallen comrade and propped him up onto his lap. "Come on, buddy! Answer me!"

Adin didn't reply. He breathed in slow, raspy breaths, his heart beating faintly. Blood seeped its way out of multiple wounds that were scattered across his still form.

"Sam! Come help me!" Jack called out. He believed Sam hadn't run too far away, wanting to stay nearby in case Jack needed him. But there was no answer. "Sam?"

"Jack! Help!"

The sound of Sam's muffled voice drifted out from behind a large trash pile where… wait… muffled?

Now worried about his other friend, Jack gently scooped up Adin and hurried over to where he thought Sam was. Turning the corner of the large pile of garbage, Jack's eyes widened.

A large box the size of an H2 Hummer sat, out of place, in the middle of the junkyard. Sam and Monique stood within it, looks of horror clearly written on their faces.

Laying Adin down where he hoped he'd be safe, Jack ran to the box, pressing his hands against the containment. "How did you two get in there?!"

"I honestly have no idea!" Sam explained. "We're running, I look back, and the next thing I know, we made impact with a wall. We both turned to get out, but ran into another wall. It closed in on itself somehow."

Jack's gaze turned to his little sister. She clung to Sam's shirt like a small child. Her face was red, her cheeks were tearstained with more tears lingering at the corners of her frightened blue eyes.

"Jack! I'm scared!"

"Don't worry," Jack tried to soothe his younger sister's nerves, though his were spiking off the charts, "I'm going to try to get you out. Try opening it from the inside while I work on it out here."

Nodding, the three set to searching. Sam inspected ever crease of the top of the box while Monique ran her hand along the bottom. Jack continuously walked around the box, his spirits fading with every lap. There were no latches, buttons, knobs, anything.

Suddenly, Sam froze. "Jack…? There's water in this box…"

"What?!" Jack gazed into the box again. This time, Sam and Monique were ankle deep in water that now covered the bottom and it was rising, quickly.

"Jack!"

"Hang on!" Determination sky-rocketed as Jack began to kick the mysterious box, only to have his foot bounce right back at him.

_... I'd be trapped in a water-filled box, slowly suffocating. Suffering until every last breath was taken from my drowning corpse…_

"Where is all this water coming from?!" Sam was now treading water, the gap of remaining air quickly decreasing in size. Struggling, the young adult also tried to keep the preteen's head above the water. Their eyes were wide with fear.

"No, I won't let this happen again!" Jack told himself as he began to rummage through the garbage surrounding him. AS he searched, his eyes rested upon Adin's still form. "I won't let Sam and Monique witness the same fear I was unable to prevent from happening to Adin! They will not die!"

A chuckle suddenly filled the silent night air, making Jack freeze. The sinister amusement came from no particular spot, it was everywhere. Jack's skin began to crawl as the chuckle subsided and was followed by an equally deep, sinister voice.

"Can't save your friends now, can you, Jack?"

Gazing into the shadows, Jack had to wet his lips before he was able to speak again. "Who is this? Who are you?"

"Should you really be worrying about _me _at the moment?"

Jack's eyes widened as he returned his gaze to the water prison.

"Sam! Momo!"

Both his friend and his little sister were completely engulfed under the water now. Their eyes were slowly closing as their bodies sank lower and lower to the bottom. Sam's hand slid down the side of the containment as he stared blankly at Jack.

"No!" Jack grabbed the shovel that lay at his feet and ran full force towards the box.

"You can't save them."

"Shut up!" Bracing himself, Jack swung the dinged-up shovel with as much force as he could.

With the edge of the shovel slicing into the thick glass, the pressure from the water allowed the rest of the wall to crumble. Water poured out just as quickly as it had poured in, and Sam and Monique flowed out with it, their bodies landing harshly upon the gravel.

"Guys!" Jack knelt down beside his friend and sister. Relief flooded him as Sam and Monique coughed up the water that had lodged its way into their lungs, but they still remained on the verge of losing consciousness.

"Oh, stealing my fun, Jack?"

Jack's teeth clenched as he listened to the same skin-crawling voice. Its voice sounded like a sarcastic pout. His sapphire eyes darted every which way as he slowly rose up to his feet. His knuckles turned white as his grip upon the rusted shovel tightened.

"Who the heck do you think you are?! And how the hell do you know my name?!" Jack called out into the night, his voice ladened with anger and disgust. "You don't scare me, but it appears to me that _you're _the one who hurt my friends! Show yourself to me, you worthless piece of…"

"Ah ah ah ah, hold on a minute now, Jackie, it wasn't my fault. Their luck remains in the roll of the dice."

"Dice?"

The sudden clicking of dice being shuffled within a cupped hand penetrated the tension between Jack and the unknown figure.

"Your luck is in this next roll, Jack," the amusement returned to the voice. "Let's see how lucky you are."

The clicking died. Soon afterwards, Jack saw two red die being hurled out from what seemed to be thin air, rolling along the ground towards him until they landed at the tips of his black sneakers. Two ones gazed up at him.

"Snake eyes, hmmm..."

Jack swallowed hard as the voice chuckled again. "What does that mean?"

"It means your luck… has just run out."

The fire cam shooting out too quickly for Jack to dodge as he was quickly engulfed in flames. His agonizing screams broke the sound barrier as he felt the inferno licking at his skin, burning the flesh from his bones. Attempts at dowsing the flames were futile as Jack fell to the ground, his body paralyzed from the unbearable pain.

"Jack!!"

Squinting through the fire and the fogginess of his own vision, Jack could make out Monique lying on the ground not even ten feet away from him. She was crawling slowly towards him, her arm outstretched as if she could simply pluck him from his fiery doom.

"Mo… mo…"

The voice came back, laughter now ringing through his ears. A large shadow was now looming over his sister's body. Bugs were skittering every which way along the ground.

"JACK!"

_Don't die, Momo… _A single tear rolled down Jack's burning face as everything went black.

_Don't you dare die… _


	5. Chapter 4: A Walk in the Dark

**Author's Note:** Hiya, everyone! You all thought that I died, didn't you? I apologize for taking so long to update. So much has been on my mind lately. What with college scholarships, senior year, work, band, the works, and on top of that, I'm losing my knack for writing! It's not really writer's block, I just don't like my style of writing at the moment. I'm trying to find it again, but until I do, forgive me if my writing seems a little off. And I'm also sorry, but I can't make any guarantees that the next chapter will be up soon, but I'll try my hardest. This summer has been a lot busier than I expected. Anyways, thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed, favorited, or alerted my story, and please enjoy this next chapter. :)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas, but I haven't watched it in a while and now I'm REALLY wanting to watch it again!

* * *

**Ch. 4 – A Walk in the Dark**

Silence… So incredibly silent that a shattering glass would sound like an atomic explosion.

There were no birds chirping, no distant sounds of sirens or trains, no people talking or screaming. Just utter silence.

He was regaining consciousness, yet his body was numb. He was waking up… maybe… right?

"There's… no way," Jack whispered to himself, unsure if he wanted to be the one to break the surrounding peace, "There's no way that I'm still alive. Especially after…"

Even though his eyes were shut, he squeezed his eyelids even tighter together as flashes of the nightmare rushed through his mind.

"No!" Jack quickly sat up from where he was lying on the ground. A horrified look crossed his face as he saw that he was in the midst of a graveyard. A cool wind weaved its way through the varying tombstones scattered throughout the dead's resting place and swept through Jack's frail form, sending chills crawling down his spine.

Struggling to get past the shock, Jack began to chuckle to himself. It soon turned into an all-out laugh. "All right, I get it. This isn't real. Prank's up, guys! Boy, you really had me going there for a second!"

His laughing soon turned into forced chuckles when he received nothing but the sound of his own voice echoing back to him.

"Sam? Adin? Momo?" Still nothing. "Come on, guys, please. This isn't funny anymore!"

As he scanned the graveyard for any hiding shadows, Jack couldn't help but read the surrounding tombstones.

Maggie Reddick ~ May you be able to forget your past

Born: January 26, 1942Died: October 31, 1999

Luke Garret ~ I will always love you

Born: November 20, 1920Died: October 31, 1988

Sydney Bishop ~ Sometimes good bye is a second chance

Born: June 18, 1991Died: October 31, 1997

Even after multiple times of reading and rereading the same tombstones, Jack began to worry about the date all the people had died on. All the ones he had seen… those people all died on the same day. October thirty-first… Halloween.

"That's… impossible… There's no way," Jack said to himself as he brought his hands up to rub his eyes. "This must be a part of a midnight Halloween show. Yeah, that's it! It's…"

Jack froze as he felt his fingers, bonier than usual, pass beyond where the human eyeball should lie. With his hand now pressed firmly against his face, his cheek felt cold and hard, almost like stone. Or maybe something harder… almost like…

Slowly, Jack's hand inched up until it lay flat on top of his head. Flat? Where there should've been hair, there wasn't. It felt like the same hard substance as his face. Almost like… bone… human bone… like a skull…

Now descending from his head, Jack brought his hands down and gasped. Skin no longer hid the bones that were exposed right in front of his own eyes, well, if he had eyes anymore. Quickly, his gaze wondered down to the rest of his body. Ribs were now visibly exposed underneath his now baggy, tattered sweatshirt. His dark jeans lay loosely over his very skinny legs.

Unable to speak, Jack began to back up, almost as if he could reverse time by doing so. He shook his head vigorously, wanting to rid his mind of everything that happened within the last twenty-four hours.

His movement stopped as his back made impact with what he thought would probably be another tombstone. He turned around.

"No!"

Jack Shelton ~ Don't scare an Angel to death

Born: October 23, 1978Died: October 31, 2002

Terrified, Jack tried to stand up. He had to run, he had to get away, but as soon as he stood upright, his weak legs gave out on him. He crashed back to the dead ground beneath him, a fall which would have hurt anyone alive, but didn't affect Jack in the slightest.

"This isn't happening!" Jack raised his voice as he scrambled to grip onto a nearby tombstone, hoping to use it as support to help him back onto his feet. After an intense struggle between him and his weak body, Jack finally managed to stand, slightly bent over as he continued to hold on to the rather small support he had.

Jack's eye sockets narrowed as his terror slowly began to transform into rage. "If I'm dead, shouldn't I be in Heaven or Hell? If I'm dead, why the hell am I in some god-forsaken graveyard?!" The volume of the young man's voice increased as he shouted into the darkness surrounding him. "Am I in Limbo? What?! Was I so in between good and bad that you couldn't even pick a freakin place for me to go after I died?!"

As Jack's anger continued to boil up inside him, his gaze roamed across the graveyard. A large, bright moon cast a strangely comforting light upon the dead's resting place. A hill with a unique curl at its point was outlined within the moon's glow some distance away from where the skeleton now stood.

"I know I scared people! I know it's not nice, but we can't live our entire life thinking that everything is going to be all right!" Jack shouted as he maneuvered from tombstone to tombstone, using them as support as he wondered aimlessly through the unknown graveyard. "Bad things happen, it's inevitable, but if we scare others from time to time, it seems to lighten the effect that it has on most people! They're able to handle the consequences, the aftermath, better, and of course they'll always remember what happened, but they'll be able to let it go and carry on with their lives. At least, that's what I believe." Stopping, Jack waited for a sound, anything. But again, his own voice was carried back to him. "For heaven's sake, somebody answer me!"

Giving out on him again, Jack's legs wobbled and bent until he was face first on the ground. He brought his boney hands up to cradle his head, unwilling to try and move the rest of his body again, a feeling of hopelessness washing over him.

"I'm dead… I'm alone… and…" a feeling crept through Jack's being, a feeling he had never witnessed; one that he did not want to admit to, yet he could not stop it from plaguing his mind. "I'm… I'm scared."

Jack shook his head, believing he could shake this unwanted feeling away as he propped himself up onto his elbows. Gazing upwards, he found himself, yet again, face-to-face with another tombstone. Yet this one was different from the others he had seen.

It was much smaller, maybe half the size of all the others. Upon it was the all-too-familiar skull and crossbones symbol that was so often used on references to the dead. But instead of a human skull, it was replaced by a dog skull. Atop the symbol, the word "Zero" was engraved into the stone.

"Hm, interesting," Jack said as he cocked his head to the side questioningly.

Suddenly, a white apparition appeared, coming out of the grave and floating right before Jack.

"Whoa!" Jack threw himself backwards, surprised by this unexpected visitor.

Before him was the ghost of a dog. A small dog with a bright orange pumpkin nose. A wide grin crossed its face as it continued to stare at the new skeleton.

"Oh, well, it seems I'm not the only one here after all," Jack chuckled, gripping his chest out of habit as he returned a small smile to this not-so-furry friend. He was almost relieved; with a smile like that, Jack doubted this small ghost was going to hurt him, if ghosts could harm somebody already dead.

Silently, the dog floated around Jack; examining him, taking in every detail, cocking its head back and forth as it went. Then, after a couple rounds, it stopped in front of him and floated in place as it had before.

"Um…" Jack started, wanting to make conversation with his new found company, yet now unsure of what to say, "I'm guessing your name is Zero, right?"

The dog let out a few high-pitched yips as it barked happily in response.

Jack's smile widened. He was happy to know that Zero could understand what he was saying.

Then, hesitantly, Jack lifted his right hand and reached out towards Zero. But instead of petting him, his boney hand passed right through the apparition.

"Oh," Jack quickly brought his hand back, sorry that he had invaded Zero's personal space.

Paying no mind, Zero barked again as he floated up towards a tall black gate at the top of a nearby hill.

"I don't remember seeing that gate," Jack continued to speak his thoughts aloud, feeling less afraid and along by doing so. His gaze followed the small ghost dog until he stopped right at the foot of the gate. From there, Zero barked again, wanting Jack to follow him.

"Okay, I'm coming," Not wanting to lose his only company, Jack carefully reached out for the tombstones and used them once again to slowly lift himself back up. With a little more ease, he was on his feet much quicker this time, and using baby steps, he managed to even quicken his pace as the distance between him and the new gate began to shorten.

As Jack was a mere two feet away, Zero turned around and flew forward, his body passing right through the gate. Unable to copy the dog's abilities, Jack settled with gripping onto the rusted iron, pushing it open with a long, slow creak, and cautiously stepping through.

Passing through this new boundary, Jack found himself on a new path. An emptier, sinister-looking path that lead straight into the darkness. Unsure of where it might, or might not, lead to, he took a step back towards the graveyard that he was feeling rather comfortable around at the moment.

Jack stared down the path, watching the orange glow of Zero's nose creep further and further away from him. As if reading his thoughts, Zero stopped to look back at Jack and bark at him, urging him to follow.

"Just follow the dog, Jack, he knows where he's going," Jack took an imaginary breath in and found himself following Zero down this unknown path. "The question is, where _is _he going?"

Deciding not to think about where he was going, Jack kept his sights on Zero, not wanting to look around or make contact with any unwanted visitors. He just kept walking for what seemed like an hour, but what is time to the dead?

Suddenly, another, rather large, gate appeared out of the darkness. Zero flew towards the gate, passed right through it, and disappeared from sight.

"Zero?" Jack called out quietly into the night. He ran the last few steps, took hold of the large iron bars, and peered inside.

Zero had led him to a town. A smallish kind of town that circled a large plaza-like area. A large stone fountain stood stationary in the middle of the plaza, a green sort of liquid pouring out of what appeared to be a demon head. Confetti and candy wrappers covered the ground like snow, obviously symbolizing that a celebration had just taken place.

"Zero?" Jack called out again, but received no answer. Seeing as he couldn't lift this new gate, he decided to step through it. Managing to easily maneuver his way in between the bars, Jack soon found himself in the middle of the town square. Gazing up at the surrounding buildings, he noticed they all had different shapes to them. Curving, twisting, reaching up to the starless sky at strange angles. Moving his gaze back to ground level, he noticed that nobody was around. Jack was almost relieved for he wasn't sure if he was ready to see the town's people yet. But the one small ghost he was still trying to find was also nowhere in sight.

"Zero. Where are you?"

A sudden loud, continuous bark echoed throughout the quiet town, causing Jack to jump. Looking up, Jack saw his small companion zooming around in every direction.

"Zero! Shh! Keep quiet!" Jack hissed, but his plea came too late.

Windows began to burst open, lights turned on in every building, and shadows began to make their appearance.

"What's all the commotion?!"

"Zero? What is it?"

Jack was rooted to the spot, staring in horror as creatures suddenly began to flood out of their houses and into the square. If his eyes could've widened, they would've.

"Hey! Who's the new guy?" The shout of a small demon that balanced itself upon its own wings turned the heads of everybody in the town towards Jack.

Too horrified to speak, Jack stepped back until he was stopped by a stone wall. The creatures continued inching closer to him, watching him with curious eyes.

"I don't believe we've seen him around before," a fat clown riding a unicycle said in a loud, obnoxious voice.

"What' your name?" A wolf wearing a ripped, plaid shirt was the next to speak up from the crowd.

Jack remained speechless as his gaze darted from face to face. All of these creatures… so distorted, misplaced, alien.

"Are you all right, son?" A corpse woman wearing a flower dress stepped forward, touching her glasses as she leaned in close to inspect Jack.

"I think he's scared," a man in blue overalls mumbled as he hobbled forward. Jack was almost glad to see someone who at least looked normal, until he saw the axe that was penetrated right through his skull.

"Stand aside! Coming through!" A worried voice echoed out from the crowd. Jack noticed the creatures parting as a small man came skittering towards him. His face definitely showed what he was feeling at the moment.

"What's wrong?! Are we under attack?! I'm only an elected official! I'm not authorized to stop any surprise attacks!"

"No, there's a new kid here," the wolf spoke again, "but we don't know if he can talk."

"Oh," the small man's tone lightened as his face suddenly made a one-eighty degree spin, replacing his current worried face to a much happier one. "Welcome to Halloween Town!"

That did it. Jack felt himself becoming dizzy as he slumped to the ground, collapsing into a heap.


	6. Chapter 5: Feeling Dead

**Author's Note:** A special request made by **TWIHARD2**, I promised I would post up my next chapter by Thursday and guess what...I made it to my deadline! Boo ya! I'll have to say barely, though. This chapter, I think, is one of my longer ones. I'm very proud with how it turned out, though. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, alerted, and favorited my story! I never thought that it would be this popular! You guys have no idea how happy you make me when I see all of your reviews! Hopefully I'll be able to get up one more chapter before school starts, but marching band starts soon, so we shall see. Again, thank you and I hope you enjoy Chapter 5. And **TWIHARD2**, since you were my inspiration in putting up this chapter so fast, I am dedicating this chapter to you! Thank you!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas, nor will I ever in a thousand years! Aw, man! That sucks! :(

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**Ch. 5 – Feeling Dead**

"Sam? Sam, wake up."

A soft whisper and a gentle nudge was all it took to wake the sleeping man. His eyes still heavy and ladened with deprived sleep, Sam managed to open them half way. Gazing out into a blurry world, he saw that he was in the lobby of a hospital. It was all coming back to him as he continued waking up. He had come there a few days ago, unconscious and on the verge of dying. The doctors had been able to pump out all of the water that had filled his lungs and were just barely able to save him before he had stopped breathing. The following day, the doctors told him he could go home, but he had stayed, for Adin was still here…

"Sam?"

Blinking back the sleep, Sam rubbed his eyes, clearing what remained of his foggy world, and turned his head to the sound of the familiar woman's voice, standing to his left, were two women. One was an older woman; mid forty's, short unkempt black hair resting right above her ears, pale gray eyes looking down on him with such sorrow. The other was a preteen; thirteen in age, long, straight black hair that appeared to be as thin as paper, big blue eyes puffy with many shed tears.

"Mrs. Shelton. Monique," Sam attempted to stand up from the chair he had fallen asleep in. His cramped muscles argued against the sudden strain as he untangled his limbs from their curled up position. Finally managing to stumble onto his feet, Sam stretched himself out as he approached Jack's family, embracing each of the two women in a hug. "Hey, how are you holding up?"

Swallowing hard, Jasmine already began to fight back the sudden rush of tears that always came whenever her recently deceased son was mentioned. She wrapped her left arm around her daughter's tense shoulders and brought her closer to her side before she began.

"We're taking it… day by day," Jasmine choked, a pool of unshed tears visibly welling up in her eyes, "It's… still hard… but… he's in a better place now… right?"

Struggling against his own sorrow, Sam managed to force a small, weak smile and gave a sharp nod of his head, hoping that might prevent his own tears from falling.

"Absolutely…" After having regained consciousness, he remembered asking the doctors about his friends. They had told him that Monique was doing much better, Adin was in intensive care, but when he had asked about Jack, they had let out long sighs and had taken off their glasses; never a good sign.

"_We're sorry, Sam, but your friend was…_"

"He's…" Sam continued, trying to erase the terrible memory that now flooded his mind. "He's probably giving an angel a heart attack… even as we speak."

That got a smile and even a soft chuckle from Jasmine, making Sam feel a bit better himself.

After a brief moment of silence between the three, standing as still as stone statues, Jasmine was the first to break it. "We came to see how Adin's doing."

"Oh," Sam remembered he had come to the hospital's waiting area after the nurses literally dragged him out of Adin's room, telling him to come back in the morning. That was around 11:15 at night. Once he sat down, he immediately feel asleep, only to be woken up by Jasmine and Monique after what seemed like maybe twenty minutes of sleep. Assuming it was still late at night or really early in the morning, Sam said the first thing that came to mind.

"Visiting hours are over. You're going to have to come back tomorrow morning. They said they'd let me see him around eight."

"Sam," Jasmine began, a look of worry in her eyes, yet a small smile crossing her face, "it's 9:23 in the morning."

Sam pondered over this as his gaze wondered over towards the automatic sliding glass doors that marked one of the many entrances into the Northwestern Memorial Hospital. Morning sunlight was just beginning to brighten the sky, casting its first warm rays through the windows of the building.

"…Oh…"

"I think you should go home, Sam. Try to get some good sleep. Even an hour long nap in a bed, not a chair, would probably help."

Letting out a long sigh, Sam brought his hand up to rest upon his forehead, only to let it drag down his face, hoping to take some of his grogginess along with it.

"Adin needs the company. His family's all the way in Vermont. They know what happened and they know that he's here, but they can't afford to come out here to see him," Sam let out another breath before continuing. "He also probably could've gotten out of here yesterday, but the doctors are saying that his body isn't healing the way it's supposed to be right now. They run tests on him every day, he may need stitches, and even though he's in excruciating pain all day and all night, he refuses to take any medication. Almost as if… he's forcing himself to die."

Jasmine moved her gaze to the tiled floor and croaked, "So he can see Jack?"

"Yeah…" Sam nodded solemnly, his Adam's apple visibly moving as he swallowed hard. "I think… he feels responsible for Jack's death. I mean, I guess I do, too. Jack saved his life, and mine, and Monique's, and yet, he was the one who did absolutely nothing wrong, but paid the price with his life. It's… just not right…"

Silence filled the halls once again, minus the footsteps of the busy nurses traveling from room to room to meet the needs of their patients.

"Come," Sam spoke softly as he gently placed his hand on Jasmine's upper back and led her down the hall, "I'll take you to Adin's room."

The three began their journey down the hall; dodging passing nurses and doctors, avoiding stretchers and beeping machines, the smell of hand sanitizer drifting strongly into their nostrils. Once down the long hallway, one left turn, and a few more steps, the trio halted in front of room six hundred forty-five. Just as they were about to enter, a nurse stepped out. Short, about five foot, hazel brown hair pulled away from her face in a tight bun behind her head, she wore light blue pants and a black nurse shirt with swirly rainbow lines that if you were to gaze at it long enough, you might be able to make out a hidden picture.

Her pale green eyes moved up as she saw there were visitors blocking her path. Annoyance showed visibly when her gaze rested on Sam, remembering she had to forcefully escort him out of the room with the assistance of a passing-by cop the other night.

"He's awake. You can see him now," answering their unsaid questions with short, snappy answers, the nurse nudged her way between Monique and Mrs. Shelton and quickly made her way down a nearby hallway.

Ignoring the nurse's rudeness, Sam was the first to slowly step into the room. He saw Adin turn his head towards the door, eyes half open, his pale face holding no emotion whatsoever as he continued to glance at Sam without saying a word.

"Hey, buddy," Sam managed a smile as he stepped further into the room, "There are some people here to see you."

* * *

Jack was becoming very irritated with himself; he had never passed out so many times before. In fact, he had never passed out once in his entire life.

_Well, if I were still alive, it probably would have happened eventually_, Jack thought as he could feel himself regaining consciousness. _Wait a minute!_

A sudden thought struck his mind as a small bubble of hope began to wheel up within him.

"Was it all just a dream?" Jack spoke aloud to himself, "Did none of that happen? Will I finally be able to wake up from this never-ending nightmare?!"

Wanting to know the truth, Jack did not hesitate to open his eyes and sit up straight to take in his surroundings. His small forming bubble burst as he found himself to be in a large metallic room. Different scientific-looking experiments were scattered around him along with strange looking machines only found in old horror films with mad scientists and monsters.

"I guess not," Jack said miserably as he brought his knees up and hugged them close to his chest. Catching the sights of his exposed boney hands only confirmed that he was still trapped in his nightmare. He also saw, to go along with the "mad scientist" atmosphere of the room, he was sitting on top of a large operating table that looked just like a bed without the cushioning mattress to cover its hard metallic surface.

A sudden strange sound broke the surrounding silence (there seemed to be an endless supply of that in this place), almost sounding like a toy race car and a moving crane put together to make one unique noise.

"Oh. You've finally woken up."

An equally strange voice followed the ceased motor sound. Gazing up from his lap, Jack was startled to see a new creature he had not seen in the town square before. Well, not really a creature, he had more of the appearance of a man. A small, delicate looking albino man was sitting in a rickety old wheelchair before him. Small, black spectacles hid his equally small eyes. A long white lab coat reached down to his knees, black gloves covering his small hands. A creepy looking line traveled all the way around his head with nails visibly sticking out as if they were holding his head together.

"Don't worry," the frail man spoke in his strange, yet calm voice again, clearly seeing the fear on Jack's face and wanting to help calm him. "We're not going to hurt you. We only want to help you, but it seems you have a knack for passing out before we even get the chance to try."

Looking down again, Jack almost felt guilty, "Sorry…"

"You don't have to apologize for blacking out. It's a natural occurrence that's happened to all of us. It's kind of hard not to, I mean, after finding out you're dead and all."

Jack remained silent, staring at the strange man questioningly. He talked about death like it was a topic for small talk between two friends. He also didn't seem afraid or touchy around the subject as Jack felt at that moment. The skeleton guessed this man had been dead for a while, having finally accepted the reality he was forced to… live?... in right now.

Wanting to change the subject, seeing as how he was now feeling rather uncomfortable around the topic of death, Jack began to think of some questions he had been dying to ask ever since he woke up in the graveyard.

"So, uh, how long was I out for?"

"Let's see?" the man pondered, stroking his chin with his small fingers. "I believe they brought you here about three days ago."

"Three days?!"

"Try not to think about it too much, my boy. The faster you let things be, the better off _you _will be. Here," the man gestured for Jack to follow him as he wheeled himself over to a nearby table. The strange motor sound Jack had heard earlier emanated from the man's wheelchair as he halted before a rather large looking dish. "Have some soup."

Shaking his head, Jack didn't move from his place on his table. "No thanks, I'm not hungry. Then again… I went three days without eating or drinking anything. If we're dead, we don't even need food and water anymore, right?"

"That is true," the man started as he abandoned the bowl and wheeled himself back towards Jack, "we dead folk mostly just eat and drink for fun."

"For fun?"

"We don't _need _this stuff, but sometimes we get a _longing _for it. Almost like a craving, to chew on food or gulp down a nice big bowl of soup. You'll experience it as well, my boy. It is a habit you can never get rid of, even after death."

Jack never had thought about that, it was almost… interesting to him. As his curiosity had finally been breached and was on the verge of getting ready to expand, his eyes began to wonder around the metallic room again. Passing floating body parts, small live creatures (at least alive to his eyes, or non-existing eyes, or…), and many electrical gizmos and gadgets, Jack's gaze rested on a girl.

Long orange hair stretched down her back, a ragged, patched up dress flowed down past her knees. Upon her pale white, bluish skin were strange stitching. It was almost as if this girl was sewn together, as if she was just one large rag doll. She lay on a table like Jack, but she appeared to be in a deep, peaceful sleep.

"Is she like me?"

"Hmm?"

"Did she just die, too?"

Confused, the man in the wheelchair followed Jack's gaze across the room to the girl's sleeping form. "Her? No. That's Sally, she's my latest creation. She isn't completely done yet, but she will make a fine assistant for me."

Creations, lab equipment, strange machines. Jack was beginning to believe that he _was _in one of those old horror movies that he had thought of earlier.

"Who… are you?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I completely forgot about the formalities," the man looked away from Sally and back towards Jack. "I am Dr. Finklestein, the brilliant scientist of Halloween Town. That's why everybody brought you to me. I guess they find it easier for newcomers to talk to me and ask me tons of questions since I was one of the first to come to Halloween Town."

Jack was almost shocked to hear that name. He thought he had heard it mentioned before, but had paid no heed to it, believing it was some child's fantasy. "Halloween Town?"

"Yes, that's where you are now, my boy," the doctor spoke calmly. "You woke up in the graveyard, correct?"

"Yes…"

"And did you notice anything… 'different' there?"

This must have happened to every newcomer. This man was hitting every detail right on the nose. "Well… I noticed the tombstones all had the same death date."

"Do you think that is just coincidence?"

"I… don't know."

"Every person who dies on a holiday gets sent to one of seven holiday worlds. You, along with quite a few others, died on Halloween. Therefore you are now an official citizen of Halloween Town."

_Oh, my gosh_, Jack thought as he remembered Sam and Adin talking about that very same topic just a few days earlier. _They weren't lying_. "So, does that mean you guys are in charge of Halloween every year?"

A smile suddenly crossed Dr. Finklestein's face, brightening up his pale features. This must have been his favorite subject to talk about.

"Indeed we do. We plan tricks and activities every year to scare the land of the living. To strike fear and terror into the hearts of millions. All in good sportsmanship, of course."

A small smile began to creep across Jack's face. Forgetting about the being dead requirement, this sounded like his kind of town.

"But hold your horses!" the doctor held his hands out towards Jack, telling him to stop although he was the one who kept rambling on. "Before you begin your question montage, cause that might take a while, might I perhaps know your name?"

"Oh, right. My name is Jack. Jack Shelton."

The doctor's face began to crinkle, giving a very odd appearance. Jack thought he might have said something wrong, until Dr. Finklestein quickly turned his chair away from Jack and unleashed a strange noise from the back of his throat. It almost sounded as if he were trying to stifle a laugh.

"What's so funny?" Jack asked as he crossed his arms.

"I'm sorry, my boy, but Shelton?" Dr. Finklestein's voice was hard to understand, given that he was continuing to hold back his laughter. "That's an odd name for a skeleton."

"Hey, I'm no…"

"You are now, Jack."

Tense shoulders slumped as Jack let out a long sigh. There was no avoiding the truth anymore. There was no escape from it and no way to change it. He was dead. What he had to do right now was grin and bear it and carry on with his new afterlife.

Suddenly, a terrible thought struck Jack. Hesitantly, but wanting to know the truth fast, he asked the doctor the question that now haunted his mind.

"Did… any other new skeletons… come to town besides me?"

Turning back to face Jack, the doctor brought his small hand up to stroke his chin again as he pondered over Jack's question.

"Not to my knowledge. If we had any more newcomers, they would have been brought here the same day you were. Besides, we haven't had a visitor in quite some time."

Jack was almost relieved to hear that, until another terrible thought struck him. They hadn't died on Halloween, but what if Sam, Adin, or Momo died the day after? What if one of them was in heaven even as he spoke, and he would never have any idea that they were gone?

"Why do you ask?"

The doctor's voice filled Jack's mind, dragging him out of his miserable thoughts. "Hm?"

"Should we be expecting more visitors?" Dr. Finklestein almost asked hopefully. It seemed they always welcomed newcomers with open arms.

"Oh, no! God, I hope not," Jack drifted as he began to lose himself within his thoughts again. "It's just… I'm worried about my friends… my little sister…"

Curling in to himself as much as he could, Jack closed his eyes and wished that everything would go away. That time could just stop, only to be reversed to that night so he could change his future.

A comforting hand on his leg caused Jack to open his eyes and see Dr. Finklestein on the left side of the table. He wondered how he had not heard the chair moving to his side, but he appreciated the comfort.

"How did you die, Jack?"

Jack looked away from the doctor. He never thought that he would ever have to answer that question before. "I'd… rather not talk about it." He didn't want to talk about it because that would mean having to remember everything and relive the nightmare all over again.

"Sometimes it helps the soul to rest in peace," the doctor insisted.

Cringing after the "rest in peace" part, Jack decided to just let it out as quickly as possible to get it off his chest and then forget about it just as fast afterwards.

"All right. A man was toying with me, my two best friends, and my little sister. After nearly killing them, he went after me. He said my luck was in the roll of the dice. Apparently, snake eyes is a bad number and, before I knew it, I was engulfed in an inferno. My friends were unconscious, but before I died, I could see her… Momo… reaching for me…" Jack had to stop as he brought his hands up to cradle his head, the feeling of death returning to him; pain, sorrow, longing… so many feelings coming out at once.

Hearing no reply but silence, Jack looked up to find the doctor horror stricken.

"Doctor?"

Swallowing hard, Dr. Finklestein asked, "Did you say that he had dice?"

"Yes…"

"Anything else about him that you can remember?'

"He… I don't know much. He lingered in the shadows. But I remember his voice, his laugh… Oh, there were also a lot of bugs around, but they didn't start coming until I was dying… Why?"

The doctor shook his head, probably to get rid of the thoughts he was thinking at the moment. "You're killer sounds a lot like someone I know, but it can't be. He wouldn't hurt anybody, let alone kill someone. Anyway, your death now explains the appearance of your wardrobe."

Jack gazed down. He knew his clothes were way too big for him now. He also noticed his sneakers appeared to be on the verge of falling off his feet. He was surprised that they had stayed on for as long as they had.

"Don't worry," the doctor patted Jack's leg, "we'll get you more suitable clothes."

Forcing a small smile, Jack gave a quick nod of thanks and turned his attention back to his lap.

"Is more than your death upsetting you, Jack?"

"I… could've cared less what happened to me that night," Jack sighed, "I just wanted to keep them safe. I did, and I'm glad to see that they're not here, but… how do I even know if they're still alive? I'll never know because… I'm stuck here."

Dr. Finklestein grew silent again, minus some soft humming as he thought about what to say. After a few short moments, he snapped his fingers and smiled at Jack. "If you want to see them, I know just the thing to use."

Stretching out his long legs, Jack sat up as straight as he could on the operating table, giving the doctor his undivided attention. "What?! How?! When?!"

"Since we are a holiday world, we interact with the living one day per year," the doctor chuckled, "We need to have some way to keep an eye on everyone to make sure they're not breaking any rules or being too cruel. That is where our fountain comes into play."

"The… fountain?"

"The fountain in the town square is sort of like our own secret camera that allows us to view anyone amongst the land of the living. You may be able to see your friends and sister by using that, if they are still alive, of course."

"Really?!" Jack couldn't contain his excitement as he sprung up to his feet. "Please! Show me!"

Dr. Finklestein nearly fell out of his chair, not expecting Jack's sudden burst of energy and eagerness. "All right, all right," he pulled the small lever on the right handlebar of his wheelchair until he faced the door. "Follow me."

Following closely behind, Jack fidgeted anxiously as they slowly exited the lab and descended down the long, wide ramp that led to the big front door. Upon exiting said door, daylight flooded into the dark, gloomy building, blinding Jack for a moment.

"I didn't know you guys had sunny days."

"Did you expect it to be night all the time?"

"Well… yeah. Sort of."

Blinking a few times, Jack managed to gain his sight back to see the same town he had seen a few nights earlier, but now emanating a different sort of feel to it. It seemed just like another normal town, minus the strange creatures he noticed walking around outside.

Cringing, Jack took a step back into the safety of the doctor's lab, almost forgetting why he had come out there in the first place.

"Don't be afraid, my boy," Dr. Finklestein assured as he moved forward towards the large steps leading up to his house, "They're not going to hurt you." Approaching the ledge cautiously, the doctor simply bumped down onto the next step and continued this process until he was near the bottom.

"I'm moving faster than you, Jack. Let's get a move on!"

Jack hadn't realized he had been watching the doctor's unique tactics of going downstairs until he saw how far ahead he had gotten. Nearly tripping a few times, he managed to quickly catch up with the doctor and they continued their short trip to the middle of town.

As they went, Dr. Finklestein acknowledged every creature they passed by either nodding his head and smiling or giving a warm greeting. Not so familiar with the townsfolk, Jack just stared cautiously at each of them. He figured they weren't bad, probably some of the nicest beings you could meet, but he was still uneasy and hoped none of them would take offense to his rude behavior.

"Here we are."

With the large stone fountain in sight, nothing else mattered as Jack quickly walked up to the side and peered into the green liquid. The liquid was as still as glass until bubbles began to break the surface. With each passing second, the bubbles multiplied. Jack wasn't sure what to expect, when suddenly, something burst out of the water and lunged towards him.

Startled, Jack fell backwards and landed on the pavement beneath him. He looked up to see a green creature with big orange eyes staring at him. It appeared to be a type of sea creature for it had fins on either side of its head, big puffy lips that resembled those of a fish, and webbed fingers that curled over the side of the fountain that it sat in.

"Get out of there, Narcynthia!" Dr. Finklestein grumbled. "Some of us actually have to use this besides you."

"Oh. I'm sorry," the sea creature spoke in a low, melodic voice as, now that Jack knew it was a girl, she used her upper body strength to pull her out of the liquid.

Jack was even more startled to see a mermaid-like tail on the other end of this creature. And without saying another word, she simply just… floated?... away. Of all the fantasy pictures he had seen of the infamous merfolk, never would he have pictured one like that.

"Well, what are you waiting for, Jack? The fountain's up here."

Snapping back, Jack fumbled his way back onto his feet and approached the fountain more cautiously this time.

"Narcynthia's the only one who ever goes in there. Nothing else will come out at you," Dr. Finklestein chuckled after seeing Jack's startled face. "Now, tell it who you want to see."

For a doctor, this man was speaking nonsense, at least, it wasn't making any sense in Jack's mind. "You want to talk to the fountain?"

"It'll make more sense once you do it."

"Okay, um…" Jack was speechless. He had never talked to a fountain before and now his mind was drawing a blank. He was almost nervous to talk to it, afraid that if he said the wrong thing, it might spit at him or something.

"Hold on one second, Jack," the doctor interrupted Jack's struggle of trying to talk to the fountain. "I must warn you, it may not be pretty what you see. You'll be able to hear and see what's going on, but they will not be able to hear you and they will not know you are watching them."

Jack nodded as he let out a quick breath, "Okay, I'm ready for it. Please, show me Monique Shelton."

The green liquid already trickling out of the stone demon head suddenly change to a fuzzy-looking silver mist. It poured into the fountain and began to swirl around, reminding Jack of a hurricane. From the swirling mist, an image began to appear. Leaning in closer, Jack was beginning to make out shapes and forms.

He was looking into a hospital room. White walls, tiled floor, a large window with sunlight streaming through the glass. A large hospital bed with white sheets was centered within the small room against the wall and upon the bed, Jack saw Adin.

Gauze and bandages were wrapped around every inch of his body, at least, that what Jack assumed, for a thin sheet covered his friend from the waist down. Adin's dirty blonde hair looked greasy and unkempt and his once tan looking skin had suddenly turned very pale. His green eyes that normally held so much fun and life now seemed dull and exhausted.

"Hey, buddy. There are some people here to see you."

Jack's question was soon answered as the familiar voice he heard belonged to Sam. Relieved, Jack smiled as he saw his friend walk up to Adin's bed. He looked better, probably felt better, and he was alive. That was two out of the three. But if he had asked for his little sister, why was the image showing him his two best friends?

"I do feel a little better," Adin began quietly, "I've gotten ten stitches on my right arm, thirteen on my left. The doctors are putting in twenty-two on my left leg this afternoon, which I'm not looking forward to. And then they'll tell me if I need more on my…"

Adin stopped in mid-sentence as his gaze wondered past Sam and towards the door leading into his room.

"Hello, Adin. I'm glad to see you're on your way to recovery."

"Mom?!"

"Thank you, Mrs. Shelton," Adin nodded, "I hope likewise for you?"

Jasmine shrugged, unable to say anything without breaking down into tears. Her daughter was not as strong. Tears already streamed out from her eyes, her face red and blotchy. She released her tight grip on her mother's hand and ran towards the hospital bed.

"Momo…"

As painful as it must have been for him, Jack saw Adin scoop Monique up onto his lap without hesitation. She lay her head against his shoulder as he cradled her, rocking her slowly back and forth as he allowed her to cry. Her frail body heaved as she struggled to find air to breathe in between sobs.

As Adin comforted Monique, Sam turned to Jasmine. "Mrs. Shelton, if you don't mind me asking, where is your husband?"

Wiping loose tears from her cheeks, Jasmine sniffed, "He… had to go away for a while."

"You don't mean…"

"Oh, goodness no! Not like that. He went to Springfield to go visit his brother about two weeks ago. He had to get away for a while, you know?"

""It's a tough time," Adin responded as he continued to hold Monique close, "It's a tough time for all of us. But, Jack wouldn't want this. He'd want us… to be happy, right? We always have memories of those gone. And though they aren't nearly as great as our loved ones actually being here with us, I believe it's what Jack wants, wherever he may be."

Jack noticed the four beings before him all instinctively turn their gazes upward. As if they could see through the tiled ceiling and into the sky, right up to the golden gates of heaven.

"Heh, wrong way, guys," Jack managed a very weak smile. He was overjoyed to see that everyone was alive, but he never knew that his death would hit them as hard. His non-beating heart was breaking as he couldn't bear to part with the closest thing he had to his family.

"Jack…" Monique whispered.

"Momo… I'm right here," Jack reached into the mist, wishing he could touch her, wishing he could hold her tight and never let her go. His fingers skimmed the surface, rippling his sister's image as the picture began to fade.

_No… Don't go away…_

"Wait for us."

A single tear rolled down his cheek and landed in the water, causing the image of his family to disappear completely.

"Save a place special for me, okay? I want to see you again…"


	7. Chapter 6: Hurting When it Shouldn't

**Author's Note:** Hiya, everyone! Whoo! I know, I'm a terrible person for making everyone wait so long but I finally got Ch. 6 up! I made it longer to make up for my delay, but hey, what can I do? Being a senior in high school has proven to be a heck of a lot more challenging than I expected. I will inform everyone that this might be the last chapter I get up for a while. I'm not only swamped with a bunch of crap, but I'm also at a major brain fart! I'll get the gears cranking but I just wanted to let you guys know that it might be a while until my next chapter, but that doesn't mean that I'm giving up on this story just yet. :) Thank you to all my dedicated readers out there. I hope you enjoy Ch. 6 and I will get up Ch. 7 as soon as that idea hits me! :)

**Disclaimer:** I haven't watched this movie in forever! I love it to death, but that doesn't mean that I own it... crap!

* * *

**Ch. 6 – Hurting When it Shouldn't **

It doesn't seem like a long time, but to Jack, the past two months had seemed like six years.

Dead, and finally, but not willingly, accepting his fate, Jack wasn't scared anymore. He now knew the face and name of every creature in Halloween Town, although he wasn't really good friends with any of them, except for Dr. Finklestein. And the creatures knew him and tried to talk to him, but how could they when the skeleton kept himself locked away in the top room of the doctor's lab? No, he wasn't scared anymore, just… alone, allowing his misery to take over who he really was, not wanting to be dead… or alive. Just wanting to evaporate and become a part of the air surrounding him.

Needing no food or water for nourishment, Jack allowed himself to stay curled up on his bed for days, maybe weeks on end. He did not move, he did not speak, he did not even change the clothes that he had died in two months ago. The doctor had offered him multiple pieces of clothing, yet none of them fit right. He had to make something longer for Jack's tall figure.

The sun shone brightly through the large barred window, and the moon at night, yet Jack never had the urge to go out and enjoy the day or night. All he ever hoped for, all he ever prayed for, was a miracle that would tell him that this was all just a terrible nightmare and that he should wake up now. But with each passing day, that miracle, that dream, was fading further and further away.

Again, Jack was curled in upon himself on the hard metal bed, the sunlight just creeping into the room as it began to rise into the sky. His mind empty of any and every thought.

A gentle knock came at the large metal door that led in and out of Jack's chamber, breaking the eerie silence as the knock echoed throughout the room.

"Come in," Jack spoke faintly, still not moving an inch.

After a long slow creak from the opening door, Dr. Finklestein's creation walked in carrying a tray.

"Hello, Jack," she said in her gentle voice, "Would you like some soup?"

"No thanks, Sally," Jack replied, waving away the all-too-familiar green dish. "But perhaps more of that Deadly Nightshade stuff, if you don't mind."

"Of course, I will get it for you right away," Sally said in a cheerful, robot-like voice. She never refused or disobeyed a request and she was only too happy to wade on anybody's hand and foot. She turned to leave, but stopped as something blocked her way out.

"No, you will _not _get him that, Sally," Dr. Finklestein growled as he rolled into Jack's room, "Go finish up your chores and then you may go outside."

"Yes, Dr. Finklestein," Sally nodded her head, turned around, and headed right back out the door with a smile still pasted on her face, soup still in hand.

"Hmm… I need to work on her again," Dr. Finklestein mumbled as he watched Sally disappear around the corner, "She needs more of a personality. Ah, but let's not forget why I'm in here," he turned his gaze back towards the skeleton curled up on the bed that was attached to the far wall. "Jack, you can't stay in here forever."

Sitting up slowly, Jack propped himself up straight, feet hanging over the edge of the bed, his boney fingers gripping the underside of the bed frame, and his eye sockets narrowed in a look of utter distaste. "Watch me."

He wasn't' about to go anywhere, not after what he had seen two months ago in the eerie reflection of the town's fountain. Not after seeing his friends in the hospital, his family crushed, his sister's spirit shattered…

Sighing, Dr. Finklestein drummed his delicate fingers atop the lever that allowed mobility to his wheelchair. "I didn't want to have to do this to you, my boy, but you leave me no choice. I have been working on a little experiment and I'm in need of a guinea pig."

"No way," Jack hissed, anger overtaking his depression. "Go find yourself another volunteer.

"Jack, this device isn't going to hurt you. It is going to help you. It will erase all of your past memories from when you were alive…"

"No!"

"Please, Jack. Understand that these memories are what's keeping you from a more livable, easier lifestyle."

"This isn't life! My life was taken from me! My memories are the last thing I have and I will not let you take them away from me!" Jack shouted as he leapt to his feet, rushed past the doctor, and ran as fast as he could out of the laboratory.

"Jack, wait!"

The doctor's call was followed by the slam of the large front door as Jack zoned out everything around him and began to run.

His feet pounded hard against the stone beneath him as he pushed back the citizens that blocked his path and ignored the worried comments they continuously fired his way. He just ran; not knowing where he was going, but also not really caring either.

Jack ran for a long time, never tiring and not planning on stopping any time soon, but his body protested as his shoelaces came undone. Wrapping their way around his thin ankles, Jack became tangled within the laces' grasp and crashed to the dead ground below.

He forced out imaginary breaths, trying to regain the sensation of panting, hoping that by doing so might make him feel alive again. At least, for a moment.

Propping himself up on his knees, Jack discovered that he had fallen in the graveyard. He wasn't surprised, he tended to come to that quiet resting place a lot within the past couple of months, whether it was just to think, to remember, to cry…

"I'm done!" Jack screamed into the air, hoping it might reach someone who could change his present hell. "I've suffered enough! I want to live again! Look! This is where I died, now take me back!"

His echoing shouts were only answered by the surrounding silence, the morning sun beating down upon him as his cries vanished in the distant woods.

"Why…" Jack's booming voice came out as a mere whisper as he slowly curled up on the ground, the feeling of emptiness and loneliness returning. "Everything happens for a reason, right?"  
The sunlight cast a shadow upon Jack from the tombstone that hovered over his frail skeleton form. The name 'Jack Shelton' was engraved deep within the stone.

"So why am I here?"

* * *

Large, fluffy snowflakes drifted down from the gray Chicago land sky, covering the city in a thick blanket of fresh fallen snow. No one was out on this cold Sunday morning, preferring to remain under their warm blankets in the comfort of their homes, watching TV and drinking hot beverages from large plastic mugs.

Along one street in Chicago, South Prairie Avenue was littered with colorful confetti and tangled-up streamers, signifying the neighbors' celebration of the new year. Time to start a new; to change attitudes, to spend more times with the ones you love, to go to the gym every day, to eat right, to be happier.

But one house along the street was not covered in celebration. No, house number 3125 was draped in a cloud of sadness, the Shelton's still mourning the loss of their very dear son and brother.

Monique Shelton sat in her room, staring at the falling snow through her small widow that lay about a foot above her bed. Her once bright eyes were now pale and lifeless, her mind was empty of any and every thought, her soul was stripped of emotions, allowing her to express no feelings towards anyone, and her heart was shattered into pieces too small to ever even attempt to mend back together.

Yelling could be heard coming down the hallway to her room. She could hear the angry shouting of her father and her mother's soothing voice trying to calm him down.

A sharp knock came at the door and before Monique could say anything, her father flung the door open and stormed into the room.

"Monique Alisa Shelton! You get out of this room right now!" Michael Shelton's voice seemed to echo around his daughter's room, causing her to flinch from the sudden loud noise.

"Michael…" Jasmine tried to calm her husband, hesitantly placing her hand on his shoulder. He quickly jerked his shoulder away from her touch.

"Don't try to stop me, Jasmine!" Michael's eyes never left his daughter. "He's dead, Monique! He's never coming back and staying locked in your room isn't going to bring him back! Your grades are dropping, your phone isn't glued to your hand anymore, you never hang out with your friends. You just come home, lock yourself in your room, come out for dinner, barely touch your food, and then go right back to sulking. You need to move on. Just because Jack's life has ended doesn't mean that you have to end yours!"

Michael knew the harshness of his words, but he couldn't stop them from falling from his lips. He had to get through to his daughter, he had to penetrate into her preteen mind and try to snap her out of this trance. He knew a part of her had died along with Jack, a part of all of them had.

He waited for Monique to start crying, she always did whenever Jack was mentioned. He hated seeing his daughter cry, what father doesn't? But nothing came. No tears flowed from her pale eyes, they weren't even moist. She just seemed to stare right through him, unmoved, unfeeling.

Jasmine had already begun to cry and was staring at her daughter with concern. "Sweetie?"

Blinking her eyes slowly, Monique made eye contact with her father. "I know you miss him too, dad, but you don't have to yell at me to hide your pain."

Michael was taken aback. Her voice sounded so unlively, filled with no emotion whatsoever. It was almost as if she were dead, but the only thing keeping her alive was the beating of the shattered pieces of her heart, pumping what life she had left throughout her body, but slowly beginning to fail.

She had struck something deep within him though. He could feel his bottom lip quivering as he forced the tears that always threatened to pour out stay hidden inside.

"Once we start school again, I'll do better. I'll get out of the house more, I promise," Monique finished, then turned her gaze back towards the falling snow.

Having nothing else to say and wanting nothing more to say without breaking down, Michael quickly turned on his heel and almost sprinted out of the room. Shortly after he had left, Monique and Jasmine both heard the front door open then slam shut. Silence filled the house, neither one of the women within it wanting to break it.

Slowly moving forward, Jasmine sat on Monique's bed and embraced her daughter. She held her for a while, but became worried when she got no reaction.

"Are you okay?" Jasmine asked, pulling away and turning her daughter's head to face her. "You're not crying…"

Monique gave a small shrug. "I guess I have no more tears _to _cry. I feel the pain, but the tears won't come. I still feel it, but… I can't express it anymore."

"Would you like me to take you to see a doctor?"

"No, I'll be all right," Monique tried to give a reassuring smile. It wasn't all that reassuring though. To Jasmine, it seemed that her daughter's face would crack if her smile grew any bigger.

"Mom, I'll be all right, honestly," Monique took her mother's hand. "A temporary setback, nothing more. I do promise I'll work harder. I'll get out more and I'll live again."

Jasmine cradled her daughter's hands within hers. They were so cold… "All right, baby." She leaned over and planted a kiss upon her daughter's forehead. Giving one last squeeze, she lifted herself from the bed and unwound her fingers from Monique's. Before she left the room, she saw three large pieces of paper taped side-by-side along the wall next to the bedroom door. Each piece had a large number written in orange sharpie. 302.

"What is this for?" Jasmine turned back to her daughter as she pointed towards the numbers.

"Oh, that's a countdown," Monique said, a smile crossing her face, and this time, it was a real smile. "That's how many days that are left until Halloween. I wanted to do something special… for Jack."

Jasmine smiled as new tears began to flood her eyes. "That's sweet. Let me know if you need any help planning that, okay?"

With a slow nod from her daughter, Jasmine left the room, dabbing her eyes with her left hand as she closed the door behind her.

"I will definitely do something special…" Monique turned back to the snow, joy suddenly filling her soul, "Three hundred and two days until I get to see Jack again."

Reaching under her pillow, she pulled out a small black journal. At the bottom left corner near the elegant biding, a small sticker rested atop the leather cover. Her finger traced around the white skull.

"I'd better do whatever I can now, because I only have three hundred and two days left before I die. Save a special spot for me wherever you are, okay, Jack?"

* * *

The sun was now resting along the western horizon, slowly sinking behind the land and bringing forth the dark of night.

Still curled in upon himself among the tombstones of the deceased, Jack mumbled to himself what he had been asking ever since he arrived in Halloween Town.

"How… Why… If I'm dead, why do I long to die again? To die a million times over and even after that, continue the cycle? I thought you weren't supposed to feel anything after you died. No emotions, hunger, sickness, pain… So why am I hurting so much? Why is what's left of my soul tearing apart? Why is my non-existing heart breaking?"

A sudden weird nudge on his leg brought Jack out of his depressing trance. It almost felt as if someone tripped over him.

"Oof! Hey, what's the big idea?!" A raspy voice which seemed too low to be a child's, but had the hint of a child's whinny voice in it penetrated the peaceful evening air.

Jack felt another nudge.

"Ow! Get off of me, Lock!"

"Sorry, Barrel. Must have tripped over your big head!" Another child's voice, this one containing the tone of a tattle-tale.

One final nudge was enough to finally get Jack to prop himself up onto one elbow and gaze down towards his feet. Three small children in costumes lay in a tangled heap down at the base of his legs. Each of them stared at Jack through a mask. One of a witch, one of a demon, and one of another skeleton.

"Hey, mister, watch where you lie down!" The newer voice belonged to the witch. Jack could tell the child was a girl because of her high-pitched voice. "People are trying to get through here!"

Feeling bad for making the children fall, Jack curled his legs up closer to his chest, his arm lowering so his head rested upon the dead grass again. "Oh, sorry, kids."

The grass could be heard rustling as the kids squirmed free and suddenly reappeared in front of Jack's sad face.

"Why so down, Skeleton Man?" The roly poly skeleton child spoke up first.

"Yeah, what's with the sulky face?" The red demon child appeared behind his companion.

"Did you lose something, Mr. Skeleton?" The witch bumped into the other two last, nearly knocking them all over again.

"Please stop calling me that," Jack cringed as the children seem to be constantly reminding him that he wasn't of flesh and blood anymore, just bone, bone, and more bones. "My name is Jack. Of course I'm down because you want to know what I've lost? Everything! And no matter what I do, nothing is going to change that terrible fact for me now or ever."

Jack hadn't noticed the children sit down, their legs criss-crossed as they sat Indian style, their hands resting beneath their heads as they listened to his extremely short summary of his miserable life.

"Ooh, bummer, Skelet… I mean, Jack," the demon child spoke up first, "Sorry, we can't help you find what you've lost, but I think there's a way to show you what you're missing?"

Jack was getting annoyed, wanting the children to leave so that he could be left in his miserable, sinister, sulky state of mind. "Oh, and what might that be?"

The three children stood up in unison, as if ready to perform an act they had rehearsed a million times and were now finally able to show off.

"I'm Lock."

"Shock."

"Barrel."

"And what you need are some frights!"

"Haunts!"

"Scares!"

"Something that'll give you an imaginary heart attack!"

"Something to know your socks off!"

"Something that'll make your eyes pop out of their sockets! Well… I guess that already happened to you, so we'll pretend that part."

"Something REALLY…"

"All right! All right! I get the picture!" The children's excited voices flooded into his mind all at once, scrambling up the words until they almost sounded like they were speaking another language. But a feeling of excitement began to creep into his mind. A sly smirk crossed his face as memories of scaring began to return. "But I can assure you guys, I'm not easy to scare. When I was alive, only one many scared me… and he turned out to be the one who killed me…" Jack's smile disappeared as his voice died down to a mere whisper.

Paying no attention to the last part, the children seemed unimpressed.

"Um, hello, Jack? You're in Halloween Town now!"

"Anybody can scare anybody here."

"But there's only one who can scare EVERYBODY."

There they went again. "And who might that be?" Jack held his head, shaking it back and forth to try and concentrate on what Lock, Shock and Barrel were saying. He was getting dizzy from having to look at each one of them as they continued to each take turns with the next sentence.

"The Pumpkin King!" The three shouted in unison.

"The Pumpkin King… right…" Memories of Sam and Adin began flooding Jack's mind. _I really owe those two an apology. _

"He came into town earlier to talk to the mayor about next year's Halloween plans."

"We were heading over there right now to see him!"

"But then we ran into you."

"Come with us, Jack!"

"We'll take you to meet him!"

"He'll make you feel better in no time!"

"But," Jack attempted to protest as they began to yank on his arm, "Halloween's still another ten months away. Why would he…"

"Party pooper!"

"Don't be a stinker!"

They continued to pull.

"I'd rather not…"

"Nothing's going to change if you just stay here wishing for the impossible to happen," Lock stated as he and the other two took up different positions around Jack. "You just gotta get up…"

Working together, they forcefully pushed and pulled Jack until he was up on his feet.

"Start walking," moving behind him, they then began to push him towards the graveyard gate.

"And make the change happen for yourself!"

Jack couldn't stop, nor could he even turn around as Lock, Shock, and Barrel ran him all the way back to Halloween Town.

* * *

There was barely any light left in the sky as the lights surrounding Halloween Town's plaza began to flicker to life one by one.

As Jack, Lock, Shock, and Barrel made their way into the plaza, they found that the rest of the town had the same idea as the kids. Every citizen of Halloween Town were all gathered around the town hall where the Pumpkin King was inside talking to the mayor.

Jack couldn't help but chuckle as all of the excited faces reminded him of a bunch of crazed fan girls waiting outside a building for Johnny Depp to make a star appearance.

"Stop standing on my head, Barrel! You weigh a ton!"

Jack gazed down. Barrel had managed to climb on top of Lock's shoulders and was attempting to see over the large crowd. During the climb, Jack guessed Barrel had kicked off Lock's mask, revealing a distorted face of pain and struggling as Lock attempted to not drop his companion.

"Well, it's not my fault I'm too short!"

"We're all too short, genius!" Now it was Shock's turn to chime in.

Sighing, Jack lifted Barrel from Lock's shoulders and set him on top of the fountain in the middle of the plaza. Then, before the other two could begin to complain, he lifted them up until they stood side-by-side on the fountain's stone edge.

"Better?"

"Much."

"Thanks!"

"So, are you guys pretty close to the Pumpkin King?" Jack wasn't' sure how much longer they would have to wait for the Pumpkin Kin to come out, so he decided to maybe learn at least a thing or two about him.

"Sort of."

"We really help Oogie out once Halloween gets closer."

"Oogie?"

"He calls us his star pupils."

Before Jack could ask anything else, the creak of doors opening could be heard followed immediately by the town's cheers.

"There he is!" A creature called out, pointing at the town hall doors.

"Oogie Boogie! Oogie Boogie!"

The children began a chant that got the whole town involved. Their volume increased as a shadow came out of the building.

Jack almost began to feel excited as he was now curious to see who the infamous Pumpkin King was; the one who he thought had only existed in fairy tales was now about to appear before his very eyes. He squinted towards the doors, not having to peer over anyone's head thanks to his height, but having a hard time depicting the shadow through the dark.

"Ah ha ha ha ha!"

Jack froze. That laugh…

"Thank you! Thank you! Oh, you're too kind!"

That voice… Jack remembered that voice all too well. That sinister amusement that had before come from nowhere was not a mere twenty feet in front of him.

The Pumpkin King stepped out into the light of the plaza. That same deep voice emanated from what looked to be a large sack with arms, legs, a mouth, and two eyes.

Jack almost began to doubt it was who he thought it was, until bugs began to crawl out of his eyes. The same bugs that had surrounded his sister that night he had died.

He began to back up. "Well, at least I finally know who you are, you murderer…"


	8. Chapter 7: Beating in a Dead World

**Author's Note:** Surprise! You all probably thought I was dead, huh? I can't believe it's been 3 months since my last update! I guess time has a tendency to fly pretty fast when your life is a living hell, but at the same time, a wonderful heaven. I've had this summary done for a while and I decided to fish it out during my finals this past week. I'm trying to make a resolution to write more, but it's been pretty hectic lately, so I will do my very best to try and write more of this story when I get a free chance. The next chapters are slowly beginning to come to me, so hopefully I'll have the next chapter up soon. Plus, I don't have any more studying I have to do, so that gives me even more time to write. Hopefully this chapter is long enough to make up for my extremely long absence and hope that you all like it. By the way, Merry late Christmas and Happy New Year! :)

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas, but I do own a copy of the legal DVD. I need to watch that! It's been so long!

* * *

**Ch. 7 – Beating in a Dead World**

Oogie Boogie continued to laugh as he made his way through the cheering crowd, high-fiving creatures as he went and just soaking up the glory like a sponge. Even after many, many years of being Halloween Town's Pumpkin King, he never got tired of the praise and admiration he received from its citizens.

"Tell us, Oogie!" Barrel shouted over the cheers.

"What's in store for next year?!" Shock piped up.

"Patience, my fellow citizens," Oogie Boogie raised his hands to quiet the uproar, "It's still a work in progress."

The mayor came scurrying out of the town hall and quickly approached the giant stack of bugs. "Settle down, everyone! In the next few days, we will have a town meeting in which everyone will attend to hear next year's plans!"

Sighing in disappointment, the citizens were willing to cope with that. No big deal anyway; they waited 365 days for Halloween every year, they could wait three or four days for plans. Instead of sulking, everyone began to try and get at least some hints out into the open.

"Will it be scary?"

"Guaranteed."

"Are you going to make them scream?"

"Don't I always?"

"Are you going to take another innocent life for your entertainment?"

The crowd's smiles all suddenly disappeared. The excited chatter that once filled the air suddenly fell silent as all eyes turned towards the back of the group. Jack stood alone next to the town square fountain, Lock, Shock, and Barrel having disappeared into the crowd. The skeleton stood upright, arms crossed, eye sockets narrowed in a look of pure venom.

"Oh, why, I don't believe I've seen your face here before," Oogie Boogie smiled at Jack as he walked closer. "And you are?"

"Don't play dumb with me, Oogie; you know EXACTLY who I am! And now, I know exactly who you are. You're the one who killed me two months ago! You're the one who took everything away from me, hurt the ones I loved, and sent me to this hellish domain!"

Jaws dropped, eyes were wide as all gazes turned from Jack to their Pumpkin King, whose face held nothing but emptiness and confusion. "I… honestly have no idea what…"

"Stop lying! Admit it! You're the murderer!"

"Jack, calm down!" Jack looked down as the mayor scampered over to stand in between the two, his worried face taking over. "Our job is to scare, not to kill. If the Pumpkin King were to kill someone among the living, he would be banished immediately, never to return to Halloween Town again. Do you honestly believe that our own Oogie Boogie would hurt, let alone kill, someone?"

"Well," Jack sighed, shaking his head slowly, "I see where this is going. I know no one will believe me or take my side on this, but in my non-beating hart, I know I died at the hands of this… monster."

Silently, everyone began to disperse, not wanting to stick around if the tension got any worse. The creatures said good-bye to Oogie, but walked right past Jack without so much as a passing glance.

Gazing at the ground, Jack attempted to calm himself down as his hands clenched into fists, his whole body shaking with hatred and rage. He actually thought he might succeed, until he felt a hand rest upon his shoulder, the figure it belonged to standing very close to his left side.

"I know who you are, Jackie. I would never forget your face, even without your skin attached to it."

"What's your problem?" Jack hissed as Oogie sneered quietly into his ear.

"It's just good fun, Jack."

"Not when others get hurt, it's not."

Jack suddenly realized Oogie was patting his shoulder and smiling, giving the allusion to the citizens walking by that he was trying to comfort the fuming skeleton.

"Why me?"

"You just happened to be in my sights. You acted so tough, believing nothing could scare you. Well, guess what, Jack? I believe I was the first to show you the true meaning of fear."

"Just you wait, Oogie. Someone is bound to believe me and when they do, you'll get what's coming to you."

"Do that, Jackie… and I might just have to kill you again. You… and whoever it was that was stupid enough to believe you."

Jerking his shoulder away from Oogie's "comforting" hand, Jack glared into the Pumpkin King's empty black eyes. "I'd like to see you try." And as he stormed away, he noticed the town's people staring at him, shaking their heads in disappointment. He also saw Oogie shrugging his shoulders, putting on a pouty face for the crowd that said "I tried".

Knowing he would definitely do something stupid if he didn't get away, Jack ran up the stone steps to Dr. Finkelstein's lab, pushed the large door open, and once inside, slammed it shut behind him.

* * *

Dr. Finklestein wheeled around his large lab, gathering equipment as he went and setting them down in their proper places, ready to begin his latest experiment. Inspecting his work area and giving it a nod of approval, he then wheeled himself up to a small platform that sat next to a large metal operating table. Lying upon it was Sally, her eyes closed and the stitchings of her chest exposed.

Knowing exactly what he wanted to do, the doctor dug into his coat pocket and revealed a small tool. Two little spokes jutted out of one end while the other curved into a fine blade. Using the spoke end, he began to take out the thread that held Sally's chest together. After making quick work on removing the thick black string and setting it out of his way, he took firm hold of his puppet's fabric skin and pulled it apart, exposing the inside of her chest where a heart lay dormant, but wasn't beating.

Stroking his chin, Dr. Finklestein set his large brain to work as he stared at the small crippled organ. "Without a true heart, she'll be nothing more than a puppet, reacting only with her mind. But… if I can get this heart beating… oh, imagine the possibilities…"

The small scientist began to feel excited as he bounced in his chair, his hands shaking with anticipation, eager to get started. "Completing her will open doors to a world of scientific discoveries! She will be my greatest creation!"

He slapped his cheeks lightly, knowing he had to calm down in order to do this procedure correctly. Then, Dr. Finklestein flipped the small tool until the blade now pointed towards Sally, slowly moving it towards the veins surrounding her heart. He snipped the four veins quickly but carefully, making sure he would be able to piece them back together to their source as he disconnected and removed the heart from her chest. Holding it close as if it were a baby, the doctor then descended from the platform and made his way towards his set up work station.

Suddenly, the door leading into his lab was thrust open, banging against the metal walls and causing Dr. Finkelstein to nearly drop the fragile heart.

"I can't believe it!" Jack stormed into the lab, getting ready to vent as he began to pace. "He thinks he can get away with what he's done?! Oh, he won't, not even if Hell freezes over!"

Dr. Finklestein remained silent, for he was trying to recover from his shock of nearly dropping his precious cargo. He sighed with relief when he saw the heart resting safely in his lap, shielded by his stomach and his right hand.

"This is so infuriating!" Jack continued to pace as he brought his hands up to hold his head.

"Well, it's nice to see you not sulking for a change. What's got you so worked up?"

"Your town's Pumpkin King!"

"Oogie? Well, he does have a tendency to get into people's heads, but it's usually harmless fun…"

"Harmless? Harmless?! Killing is NOT harmless, if you ask me!"

"Whoa, time out, Jack," Dr. Finklestein was now curious as to where the conversation was heading, but he needed a moment. He wheeled himself the rest of the way to his work table and placed the heart down, not wanting to nearly drop it again, then turned back to face the aggravated skeleton. "All right, what do you mean by kill?"

"Exactly how it sounds! Oogie Boogie, YOUR Pumpkin King, murdered me and nearly three others!"

Once Jack's loud voice ceased to echo in the large metal room, a silence fell so thick even a knife would have difficulty cutting through it. The doctor looked as if he had just been shot, never taking his eyes off of Jack.

"That's… impossible… He… He wouldn't do that," Dr. Finklestein didn't want to believe what he had just heard. It couldn't be true. "He knows the rules…"

"Apparently," Jack motioned to his boney body, using himself as an example for Oogie Boogie's crime, "he doesn't obey or follow them."

Dr. Finklestein fell silent again, attempting to recollect his scrambled thoughts. "To be completely honest with you, Jack," he started slowly, "I don't believe you."

Jack let out a long, frustrated sigh as he looked away from the doctor, "You and everybody else." He was mentally hitting himself, actually hoping that the doctor might have taken his side on this, but he also knew it probably would've been too good to be true.

"Let me finish," the doctor held up his small hand, a layer of some unknown slimy substance that encircled and protected Sally's heart coating his glove, wanting Jack to listen, "I don't believe you… but unlike everyone else, I'm willing to try."

Eye sockets widened, Jack slowly turned his gaze back towards the doctor, not sure if he had heard correctly. "What? You'll…"

"You heard me. I trust Oogie Boogie, but something has seemed a little off lately. He seems very anxious for next Halloween to come faster and his ideas, as the mayor has told me, have seemed much darker this year. I don't even believe he even has shared _all_ of his ideas with us. On top of that, I want to help you. I mean, I've grown fond of you, my boy. You remind me of someone I once knew when I was still alive and I would've done anything for him…"

As Dr. Finklestein continued to ramble on about any reason he could think of, Jack found himself beginning to smile; something he hadn't done ever since he had arrived there. Now, it was his turn to hold up his hand to silence the doctor. "Not to interrupt the sentimental moment, but you don't have to say anymore. Thank you… for understanding."

Replying this time with a simple nod, the doctor turned back to face his work, assuming their conversation was over. But a new one was lingering in the air as he felt Jack's presence hovering over his left shoulder.

"What is that?" Jack asked curiously, cocking his head to the side as he tried to figure out what the slimy, gray lump was.

"This, my boy, is a heart. I created it to put into her," Dr. Finklestein spoke proudly as he motioned towards Sally's limp form lying on the operating table across the room.

"Oh, so that's how she moves around."

"Oh, no, Jack. Her mind is controlling her now. If I can find a way to get this little contraption to start beating, she will be able to feel. She will be able to express emotions and who knows what else."

Beating… after death?

"Um, doctor? If she's dead, shouldn't that heart just stay the way it is? I mean, all of our hearts aren't beating, and we're able to express emotions, think, and feel."

Jack stopped himself once he saw Dr. Finklestein shaking his head, as a father would to a child who doesn't understand. "Jack, we are the way we are because we were once alive. She never was. We remember what it was like to think and feel and that sort of comes with us into death, as you have experienced. She never knew how it felt to stick your toes in the sand or how laughter with the ones you loved was the best medicine; how to gaze at a starry sky and just let your mind wonder to a world of dreams that you could only imagine with your eyes open."

"But I still don't understand how a beating heart can exist in a dead world."

"We're defying the laws of physics here, Jack. She wasn't alive, therefore, she never died. I _created_ her and by giving her a scientific replica of a real heart, she will be able to think and feel as we do."

Kind of understanding, but not entirely, Jack found himself nodding. He didn't want to seem unintelligent around the intelligent scientist, but his face was a dead giveaway.

Dr. Finklestein easily caught Jack in the act and shook his head, sighing. "It's a waste of time to try and teach science to a child."

"Who are you calling a child?" Jack crossed his arms. "I think twenty-three guarantees me a spot as a man."

"Well, looking back at the past two months, I've seen a child trapped inside of a man's body. And trust me, Jack," Dr. Finklestein stopped the skeleton's protest, "my eyes don't lie."

Jack's defense did not come as he allowed it to fall helplessly from his lips. Even the strongest lie couldn't cover up what even he knew was the truth. He had been acting very immature and had begged like a spoiled brat for things he couldn't have. Lowering his head, he said the first thing that came to mind, "I'm sorry."

"Why are you apologizing to me?" the doctor didn't even look at Jack as he turned from his artificial heart and began to wheel around his lab. "You should be apologizing to yourself. You made yourself this way."

"Death made me this way."

The motor of the doctor's wheelchair suddenly ceased as he took a brief moment to give Jack a look. That look that says "Are you kidding me?", then continued his exploration for whatever he was looking for.

"Con found it! Where did I put those pins?!"

For the first time since he'd been there, Jack's eye sockets widened when he saw the doctor do something he had never seen before. Lifting wasn't really the right word for it, but Dr. Finklestein was actually _opening_ his head! The top half of his large, bald head lifted up, revealing an equally large pink brain within, and to the skeleton's amazement and disgust, the doctor began to scratch it.

Jack had seen hundreds upon thousands of people scratching their heads in thought when he was alive, but this was the first time he had ever seen somebody scratching their _brain_. This new discovery suddenly had a question just itching to get out.

"Doctor?" Jack began hesitantly, "Can I ask you something?"

Dr. Finklestein scoffed, frustrated that he couldn't find his pins anywhere, then replied, "Depends. What about?"

"How… How did you die?"

Waiting for the doctor to be offended by such a personal question, Jack was very surprised when he heard him begin to chuckle.

"Oh, that," Dr. Finklestein spoke in an amused voice, seeming not to care about talking about a subject that was very touchy to most. "Let's see… that was so long ago. Ah ha!"

"Do you remember?"

"No, I found my pins," the doctor triumphantly held up two small silver pins, each no bigger than a French fry out of a small, cluttered box on the floor and wheeled them over to the lifeless heart. "But… I do vaguely remember how it happened… It was Halloween, of course. I was in my lab and my son and daughter had just come back from trick-or-treating."

Jack suddenly found himself speechless. "You were a father?" He managed to croak out.

"Yes, and a proud one, too. My son, he was close to your age. My daughter, my little girl, she was only five. Their mother died when she was two. That incident is how I ended up in this," Dr. Finklestein pointed to his wheelchair. "Not even death could fix my legs, but we shall get into that another time; I'm getting off track. Anyway, my daughter was so excited to show me all the candy she got that night and after a sugar high and a really bad stomach ache, my son carried her to bed. Afterwards, my son and I popped in Nightmare on Elm Street, an old family tradition, and began to drift to sleep.

"8:30 rolled around and the wind was really beginning to pick up; rattling the windows and causing the house to creak. I swore I heard the sirens going off outside, but the movie was messing with my hearing. I told my son to mute the movie and once he did, the sirens were as loud as thunder. And then… it all happened so quickly."

"What happened, doctor?"

"I heard my daughter screaming down the hall as the tornado began to eat away at our house… her room was the first to be taken… and I was helpless to save her. So, I did the only thing I could, hoisted myself out of my chair, and tackled my son to the ground, using my body to shield him. The wind was so strong, I can remember my lab equipment bursting through the wall out of my lab from the next room over and flying around our living room. I didn't see the disc flying towards my head. It really only hurt for a second and after it sliced my skull, I felt nothing."

Jack had fallen silent, so the doctor pressed on. "I guess I lost so much blood, I didn't even live long enough to make it to the hospital. When I was shown the fountain in the town square, I wanted to see my house. It looked like a bomb had been tested or something because no part of it had been left standing. Policemen were investigating the scene, stepping over shredded wood and broken test tubes," Dr. Finklestein suddenly began to laugh, "Close to where my body had been, the police found a bloody disc, the one that had sliced through my head, and you want to know what it was? A record."

Jack blinked with confusion; he found no humor in any of this. "What?"

"You know, one of those old fashioned CDs? I listened to them all the time whenever I was working. To think, of all the deadly equipment I had in my lab, something as harmless as a record wound up killing me. I guess they can be pretty sharp when they're flying at 180 miles per hour, huh."

Dr. Finklestein continued to chuckle as he delicately placed the small silver pins into the lifeless organ, situating them until they were exactly where he wanted them. Then, he connected two wires to the pins, the electric cords leading up to a rather large generator.

"What happened to your children?"

The doctor froze, his small fingers still wrapped around the switch he was just about to pull. "I… I told the fountain that I wanted to see my daughter. It didn't show me anything but an endless blue sky. I took it as she probably died the day after Halloween, because she didn't come here. My son…" he swallowed hard, "I found out one of my scalpels pierced his brain. He survived the impact, but his brain activity was barely being kept alive in some god-forsaken hospital. He… He had a chance to live. He could've lived, but he begged the doctors to release him… so he wouldn't have to live a life of pain. As he slept…. I watched a nurse inject some type of drug into my son's ivy. He never woke up… died November 2nd."

Clearing his throat, Dr. Finklestein started to thrum his fingers upon the metal table, almost as if he were trying hard not to cry.

Jack had to close his eyes. Just a little while ago, he had believed he had lost everything and nobody could've been hurting as much as him, but this man… he had truly lost _everything_. Everything… everyone he had loved was taken from him within a couple days time. Jack still had his family; even if he couldn't be with them, they were still alive.

"Well, no need to dwell onto the past," Dr. Finklestein suddenly broke the silence, startling Jack with his sudden change of attitude. The doctor was back to his normal self.

"But, doctor…"

"My boy, my heart was shattered just like yours when I died. It took me a long time to recover, as well. But I finally began to realize that my children were with my wife now and they weren't suffering in a hospital or grieving over my death. Everyone dies, Jack. It's inevitable, so you have to live everyday as if it were your last. And hey, this town is no Heaven, but it's no Hell either. Think of this as the start of your second life, not the start of death. Live everyday to its fullest and then tell me how you feel."

Dr. Finklestein finally brought his arm down, pulling the switch down with it to start the generator. Bright electricity was visibly seen traveling down the wires and engulfing the small heart. Jack felt as if he were in a monster movie, stopping himself from saying "It's alive!" as the doctor cut the power. The urge was even more tempting when, to the skeleton's amazement, the once lifeless organ was now beating with life.

Without a word, the doctor removed the pins, gently picked up the heart, and cradled it close, feeling the familiar beating as he wheeled back over to Sally. Delicately intertwining the veins back together with the now beating heart and sewing the rag doll back up, Dr. Finklestein and Jack were left to wait; left to wait and see what would happen next.

Suddenly, Sally's eyes began to flutter, opening them slowly as if she were just waking up from a long night's sleep.

"Sally, do you remember who I am?" the doctor spoke slowly, but Jack could hear a hint of eagerness in his voice.

"Doctor… Finklestein… what happened… to me?" Sally slowly gazed around the lab as if she were seeing it for the first time. She realized that the doctor wasn't the only one in the room with her. "Hi, Jack," a smile stretched from ear to ear on her face; a real smile as she was seeing the world through new eyes now.

"It worked…" Dr. Finklestein said quietly as he watched Sally gracefully swing her feet off of the operating table, hop down onto the floor, and begin to walk around the room not as a puppet, but alive. "By God… it worked!"

"I feel so strange… yet I feel so free," Sally closed her eyes and began to dance, twirling and waltzing. She grabbed Jack's hands and urged him to dance with her, an offer he just couldn't refuse the excited child. He laughed as she tried a new step every few seconds and helped to steady her when she would stumble, but as they danced, Jack began to see someone else in front of him. Not Sally… Coleen.

"I'll let it go, doctor."

"Hm?" Dr. Finklestein was too excited to even pay attention to anything else that was going on around him. "What did you say, my boy?"

"I'll be able to let go of life, but first," Jack spun Sally around and allowed her to continue her dance alone as he turned to face the doctor, "I want to at least see my family, my friends, one more time. To really tell them goodbye, and then… you may give me that memory eraser stuff."

"I'm sorry, but you can't do that, Jack. Only the Pumpkin King is allowed to go to the world of the living. We are only allowed to use the fountain."

Jack sighed in defeat, casting his gaze downward. "Is there any way to possibly become the next Pumpkin King?"

"Well," Dr. Finklestein stroked his chin, filling Jack with relief for he didn't want to see him scratch his brain again. "If you challenged the Pumpkin King and he accepted your challenge, you two would battle it out on Halloween by proving who could cause the most… frights… Oh, no, don't kid yourself, my boy. Oogie Boogie has been scaring for fifty-two years and I know you have some tricks up your sleeve, but they're still no match against him."

"I have to do this though," a smile suddenly began to creep across Jack's face as his fingers curled into fists. "I'll challenge him… and I'll win. For my sister, I swear I will beat Oogie Boogie, if my name isn't Jack Shel…" Jack stopped in mid-sentence. Shelton sounded so… not scary. "Oh no, here comes Shelton!" yeah, right, like he would forget when he had told the doctor his last name.

"_That's an odd name for a skeleton_."

Skeleton… Shelton…

"If my name isn't Jack… Skellington."

* * *

**Author's Note II:** Going back to Dr. Finklestein's story, I will tell the story about how his wife died and how he became paralyzed, I just need to find the right place to put it into the story. I also realized that I have the doctor say "well" a lot... oh, well! :)


	9. Chapter 8: Challenge for the Title

**Author's Note:** Hey, I got this chapter up faster than the last one! I know it's still been a couple weeks, but I've been getting over a nasty bug that's messing with my head. Due to this stupid bug, I apologize if my writing style on this chapter is a little different than my other ones, but I had to do something when I was home from school. I have some great news though! After 3 hours of writing like a mad man (or woman, in my case, I guess) and a really bad hand cramp, I finished a brief summary of EVERYTHING that's going to happen in **A Walk in the Dark**. That's right, I finished it! But, I need to add some more details here and there so it's still going to be a little while till I'm completely done, but this might mean that I get chapters up a little faster. Woo hoo! This story is going to be 20 chapters long (22 if you include the prologue and the epilogue). So when I said that I thought I was about halfway done, I lied. I'm pretty excited to hear what you guys think as my story progresses. I also thank my brother for getting the movie onto my Ipod! It really helps to have it handy if I have a question on what something looks like or what happened during a certian part. Once again, thank you all soooooooooooo much for leaving your wonderful reviews! They really make me feel good! Enjoy Chapter 8 of A **Walk in the Dark**!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Tim Burton's: The Nightmare Before Christmas, but I would love to meet the brilliant man who made it happen someday.

* * *

**Ch. 8 – Challenge for the Title**

**~December 31, 2001: 11:30 pm – New Years Eve~**

_Coleen Jones waved goodbye to the librarians, having to cut the party short due to her upset stomach. National Hangover Day was starting early for her. _

"_Are you sure you don't want one of us to walk you home, Coleen?" her boss, Angela, followed her out into the unforgiving winter air. "You don't look so good."_

"_I just need some Pepto Bismol and a pillow," Coleen paused as she forcefully swallowed the lump that had begun to creep up her throat, "and maybe a bathroom, too."_

"_Okay, please be careful."_

"_I will. Happy… New Year."_

_With that, Coleen turned from the light and warmth of Angela's house and stumbled out into the darkness, slipping along the thin sheet of invisible ice that covered the sidewalks of Evans Street. _

_Luckily, the young woman lived just a few houses down, for she didn't know if she could've gone any further than she had to. Her legs were weights that grew heavier with each step, her head pounded with every loud beat of her heart._

"_Just a few more steps…" Coleen urged herself on, her body threatening to collapse to the ground at any moment, "just a little ways more."_

"_Whoa, sweetheart, you look terrible!"_

_Coleen jumped as the loud, slurred speech of a fellow drunk echoed throughout the peaceful night, catching the young woman by surprise. Turning slowly, she could make out a blurry shadow sliding towards where she now stood… just two houses away from her own…_

"_What are you doing out here, little lady?" the man spoke in a western accent, trying to sound like John Wayne, but failing miserably. _

"_I could…" Coleen swallowed the lump again, "ask you the same question." The man was close enough now for her to see his features. Scruffy beard, beer belly hanging out of a stained shirt and leather jacket, shaggy brown hair that fell out of a small ponytail on top of his head, a good eight inches taller than her, and reeking with the stench of scotch and whiskey._

"_I asked you first," the man stumbled over to the young librarian and wrapped his left arm around her frail shoulders. "A pretty thing like yourself shouldn't be alone on New Year's Eve. Come on; let's take a stroll together through the night. I'm feeling very poetic, if you haven't noticed."_

_Coleen's headache was beginning to fade as her feeling of sickness suddenly turned into fear. This stranger was leaning heavily upon her and was now leading her away from her home… her safety… "Sir… I don't even know you. Where are you taking me?!"_

"_To a magical place. And I hope you will enjoy your stay there…" the drunk allowed his fingers to creep up Coleen's arm, sending intense shivers racing down her spine once he reached her shoulder, "Because I know I will."_

"_Leave me alone!" Coleen was on full alert now as she wiggled away from the man's grip and tried to run, but the ice wouldn't allow her to leave as she slipped, landing harshly on her right knee. She couldn't hold in her cry of pain as she heard bones cracking and felt a burning inferno numbing her leg, immobilizing her as she lay on the ice._

"_Now look what you've done to yourself," the stranger tsked from behind her. "I guess this means I'll just have to carry you to dreamland." _

_Coleen wanted to protest, but the pain in her knee kept her teeth clenched and her eyes burning with hot unshed tears. All she could do was try to make things as difficult as possible for him, squirming like a fish out of water as the drunk bent down to grab her. _

"_Hold still!" the man was now becoming frustrated as his hands fumbled uselessly over her squirming body. "God, damn it, stop!"_

_A scream couldn't even express this kind of pain as Coleen's mouth fell silently open, her eyes wide as the left side of her torso went numb with pain. Had he just punched her?!_

"_Finally," the man sighed, a victorious note in his voice as he struggled to pick up the small girl in his drunken state, ignoring her quiet whimpers of pain as he slung her over his shoulder. "See how much trouble you create for yourself when you don't cooperate."_

"_She shouldn't have to cooperate with anything she doesn't want to."_

_Coleen could feel the drunk's body tense up as a new voice penetrated the night. She wanted so desperately to beg for this new man's help, but how did she knew if he didn't just want to help her so that he could get into bed with before the drunk could? _

"_I suggest you put her down now."_

"_Fat chance! I found her first! Go find your own toy!" _

"_You're a very sick man if you only view women as mere playthings," the new man's voice was low, almost melodic, but also very threatening at the same time. She couldn't even see him, yet, Coleen was already scared. What was he going to do?_

"_Back off, punk!"_

"_Like you would honestly stand a chance against me in your condition."_

"_I could take you on… with my eyes closed!"_

"_All right, let's test that theory, shall we?" Within a second, a bright silver light pierced the darkness, catching the drunk off guard._

"_My eyes!" The drunk clawed at his burning eyes, not even realizing the woman draped over his shoulder was beginning to slide down his back and heading towards the hard ice below._

_Seeing the possible threat that could befall the young woman, the mysterious man returned his flashlight to his coat pocket and dove to the sidewalk, sliding along the ice as he passed gracefully between the drunk's separated legs and broke Coleen's fall with his body. _

_New arms wrapped protectively around Coleen's limp body now, not holding onto her for long as they gently set her in the cold, yet fluffy snow._

"_Come on, you coward!" the drunk flung clenched fists around wildly, hoping that maybe one swing might make contact with his target. "Fight like a man! And give me back my girl!"_

"_Well, I'm not much of a fighter," the mysterious man took firm hold of both of the drunk's wrists, locking them tightly together within the grasp of his right hand and lifted the small man a good foot or so till he reached his shadowed face, "but what I do is far worse. I can scare you in more ways than you can possibly imagine. I can give you nightmare that will even haunt you when you're awake."_

_The drunk's eyes had finally managed to adjust back to the darkness of the night as he now tried to focus in on the features of the tall shadow that held him in the air. "Yeah, right. How could you possibly scare me?" The drunk laughed as he tried to worm unsuccessfully out of the figure's strong grasp._

_Even in the darkness, movement could be seen as the mysterious man lifted his small flashlight up to rest beneath his face. Then, once again, he turned it on._

_The drunk's smile quickly faded, his eyes grew wide, his breaths quickened as the blinding silver light reflected off burning sapphire eyes. Jet black hair draped over his forehead as a wicked sneer cross his pale face, shadows hiding what the light could not reach._

_A man's shrill cry pierced the silence of the night as the clock struck twelve._

* * *

_The headache was returning, pounding at Coleen's head, telling her to wake up. Had she passed out from the pain? The last thing she could remember was that mysterious man placing her in the snow. Now, she was on a cushioned surface in a warm room. How long had she been out? _

_Her left side hurt; she could already feel a bruise forming around her ribcage where the drunk had punched her. Her right knee had gone numb, but she didn't dare try to move it, in fear of causing the fire to return._

_A sudden tingle coursed along her skin as she felt the fabric of her shirt being lifted, exposing her already injured torso to whoever was breathing beside her. Panic took control and through the pain of her throbbing headache, Coleen began to move her body, squirming away from whoever was touching her while also attempting to avoid further injury to herself._

"_Whoa! Hey, calm down, you're alright." The stranger's voice filled her head; the voice of the man who had come to her aid. She could feel strong, yet comforting hands resting on her shoulders now, trying to hold her still. "He's gone and you're safe."_

_Safe? Where was safe? Coleen slowly allowed her eyes to flutter open. Her vision was still blurry from intoxication, but she could easily tell what all the dark objects were in the room. She was home, in her living room, on her couch._

"_But…" Coleen tried to blink away her blindness. She groaned as another hammer pounded at her head when she tried to speak. She was never going to drink anything every again. "How…"_

_The blurred figure crouching on the ground beside her gently pressed a long boney finger against her lips as his other hand brought a small cylindrical object towards her face. As it got closer, Coleen could see it was a cup with a bubbling liquid inside. _

"_I'll explain, but first, drink this. It will help with your headache."_

"_How do… you know I have a headache?"_

"_Well, you're clearly experiencing a hangover due to excessive drinking at a party, am I right?"_

"_I'm not…" Suddenly, the lump that had been quivering in her throat could not be restrained any longer. Coleen leaned over the edge of the couch as she heaved. Everything her body didn't want came rushing out along with some earlier meals she had consumed that day._

_Her coughing signaled that nothing else could come out. There was nothing left in her stomach, yet she stayed hunched over the edge of the big tan cushion, her arms too weak to lift her back up. _

_As her coughing subsided, Coleen could feel a warm hand gently rubbing the back of her head. Opening her eyes to mere slits, she also noticed that a large silver bowl lay beneath her hunched form, holding all the junk that her stomach had rejected. _

"_The worst is over. C'mon," the man's gentle voice rung through her ears again as she felt the strong hands return to her shoulders, lifting her back up to lean against the giant couch pillow. Her eyes opened wider as she finally managed to catch a glimpse of the kind stranger._

_Jet black hair neatly lined the tips of his ears. His frame was skinny and seemed fragile, but looks could be deceiving. She had a feeling he was a lot stronger than he looked. But his eyes were the feature that captivated her the most. Deep pools of sapphire pulled her in, drowning her, yet offering sanctuary from the world, offering protection… offering a friend. _

"_Here, try to drink this and I'll be right back," he securely placed the bubbling cup into Coleen's weak hands and gave them a gentle pat before he took the full bowl and disappeared down a narrow hallway. After a noisy flush, he came back into view, now heading towards her kitchen with an empty bowl._

_Coleen could have attempted to drink the fizzing water, but she was too busy staring at the tall man walking around her house. He had no idea who she was and vice versa, yet he was taking such good care of her. They had never met before, yet if felt as if she had. She had never believed in those old fairy tales; those mushy, gushy love stories with happily ever afters. She had never believed in love at first sight… until now. _

"_You seemed like such a fighter and now you won't even do something as simple as drinking water?"_

_Startled from her daydreams, Coleen jumped, shaking the couch. She hadn't realized the stranger had already returned and now knelt down on the floor beside her again._

"_Sorry."_

"_You're… You're fine… I… I get scared… very easily…"_

"_Hey, you're getting more words out," the man gazed into her eyes, flashing a gorgeous white smile. Coleen was happy she was sitting down for she probably would've melted into a puddle if she had been standing up. "We're making progress. I guess throwing up all that crap really helped out. All right, I'll help you. Open up."_

_The nausea returned, but Coleen only heaved up aid and saliva, for there was nothing left within her. The stranger took her cup, the bubbles beginning to diminish, and pressed it lightly against her bottom lip. Coleen obediently opened her mouth and allowed him to tilt the cup until the water slowly went trickling down her throat. The fizz burned the edges of her parched throat, yet she continued to swallow. The pain would be over soon._

"_Uh, before you see it and freak out," the man started, a guilty look on his face as he set the now empty cup on top of the nearby glass coffee table, "I had to break your door down to get in. I'll fix it, though, I promise."_

"_How did… you know where I… lived?" Coleen swallowed hard, the fire slowly dying in her throat, but now rising to heat her cheeks. She was embarrassed when she began to drool, some of the water having not quite made it into her mouth._

"_Well," he smiled again, using his thumb to stop the water from descending any further down her chin, "I'll start from the beginning. I hate staying indoors for too long. It feels so tightly packed and I can't think straight, so I like to take walks outside. Breathing in the fresh air really helps to calm me and clear my head._

"_Anyway, I went out for a nightly stroll to think about what might happen in the New Year. I heard your scream coming from the next street over, so I ran… well, more like slid, my way over, and found that asshole all over you."_

"_Yeah…" Coleen shuddered, "I remember the bright light. I fell, but you caught me and placed me in the snow. After that… I can't remember." Her headache was disappearing fast, but her memories of what had happened were black. "What… did you do to him?"_

"_I…" the man paused. He wasn't sure if he should tell her. If he had been able to scare the snot out of that guy, he would probably scare this young woman to death. "Let's just say, he won't be bothering you anymore," a sly smiled crossed his face._

"_Oh…"_

"_He's fine, if just might take him a couple of weeks to get over what he saw."_

"_Weeks?!"  
"Anyway, we're getting off topic. After he ran off, I tried to ask you where you lived. You were mumbling, but you managed to croak out a number before you passed out entirely. 371, right?"_

"_Yes."_

"_Good," the man exhaled a sigh of relief. "I wanted to just take you home. I didn't think you were injured so terribly that you had to see a doctor. They overcharge, anyway, and all my services are free," he smiled. "You bashed up your right knee pretty good, but nothing a week's rest and a knee brace won't cure. You also have a pretty nasty bruise on your left side, but no broken bones as far as I can tell. It's very colorful; it's now a wonderful shade of a purple blue." _

_Coleen groaned at his humor. Of course she was happy that her injuries weren't as bad as she had thought, but she didn't want to be stuck on a couch for a week… or more, depending on how her body healed itself. _

"_My prescription for you is to not walk unless absolutely necessary and the only necessary thing I can think of is the bathroom. Also, no more squirming. You think you can remember all that?" _

"_I'll manage, doctor," Coleen rolled her eyes, feeling well enough to go along with his childish humor. "Thank you."_

"_For what? The prescription?"_

"_For saving me."_

_The man fell silent, a nod and another smile answering his silent response. Then he allowed his sapphire eyes to lock with her pale green ones. "Jack."_

"_What?"_

"_That's my name, silly."_

"_Oh. Coleen."_

"_Nice to meet you. Now," Jack stood up, knees cracking as he reached his full height, "get some rest. By the way, happy new year."_

_Coleen began to panic as Jack began to walk away from her. She didn't want him to go, not yet. Before she knew what she was doing, her arm reached out, her fingers intertwining with his. "W-Wait, J-Jack!" _

"_Hm?" Jack didn't seem surprised by Coleen's strange behavior, simply turning around to gaze at her frail form again._

"_I… Can…" Coleen found it hard to breathe as she began to drown within his sapphire pools again. "Will you… be around… when I wake up?"_

"_Of course."_

"_Really?!"_

"_Well, yeah. I promised you that I'd fix your door. The sooner the better, right?"_

"_Oh… right…"_

"_And also to make sure you don't forget to fulfill your prescription. You seem pretty stubborn, so I'll stick around for a while… If you want me to, that is," Jack smiled. Coleen could feel herself melting, sinking in between the cushions of her couch as the tall man winked a sparkling sapphire her way._

* * *

The door unlocked with a satisfying click as Coleen used her spare key to get into Jack's old apartment. It creaked as the young woman pushed it open, a sound she had never remembered hearing whenever she had come over. Probably developed from neglect, not being opened at all for almost three months.

It was January 23rd; it was a special day; special for both Coleen and Jack. That is why she had invited herself over to the familiar room she had visited so many times before, thinking that this place would be the closest she could and would ever get to Jack again.

She turned on a single lamp, casting a faint glow upon the eerie darkness. A small smile crossed her face as tears began to fill her pale green eyes. So many memories began to flood her mind as she gazed around the dusty room.

The foot-sized hole in the wall by the bottom of the door: Jack and Sam had attempted to copy a routine they had seen an after school cheerleading squad performing that looked completely ridiculous. It didn't go as well as the boys would've hoped, and they looked just as stupid.

The many books cluttering the small apartment: the only time he would ever sit still was when he was reading. He loved books and the stories they told him; the places they took him, the people he met, the mysteries he solved. Coleen couldn't think of a book Jack hadn't liked… never mind. She knew he had absolutely hated the Twilight book and had refused to continue reading the rest of the series. As a joke, Coleen remembered having asked Jack to see the movie with her when it came out. She had nearly died laughing that night when he literally ran to the nearest bookstore, bought a copy of the book, then burned it on the sidewalk outside of his apartment.

The duct tape over the hole in the window: Jack had ordered one of those air hog helicopters because he had always wanted one as a kid, but his parents had never gotten him one. Adin had given Jack the idea to strap a firework onto the helicopter to make it go faster. They did; they lit it, and they let it fly. If flew… They had had to dive to the ground as the plastic toy went speeding over their heads and crashing out the window. Jack kept meaning to get the hold fixed and put tape over it to keep the wind and bugs out for the summer until he could call somebody. He never did and just sort of forgot about it. They also had never found out what had happened to the helicopter, they were just happy a tree hadn't suddenly burst into flames.

Jack's dark green ivy box: He had called it his secret box. He kept stuff in there that he didn't want anyone else to see. Coleen had seen it the first time she came over and when she had asked about it, he told her it was a secret and hid the box somewhere. So why was it out on his coffee table now?

Curious, Coleen slowly walked to the center of the room and quietly sat down on his big burgundy couch.

The couch: Jack and her had done so many wonderful… "activities" on that couch. Oh, so many good memories indeed. The first time he had kissed her was on that couch, when he had asked her to be his girlfriend; the first time he had told her he loved her…

Coleen's brow furrowed as she swallowed a large lump that had welled up in her throat. He had told her that a week before he died, whispering it into her ear as he embraced her, holding her close to his beating heart. It seemed like such a long time ago, when it really wasn't.

Wiping her nose with her sleeve as she blinked away unshed tears, the young woman glanced around, making sure no one was looking, then leaned forward to open Jack's box. She was expecting something to pop out at her, something really disgusting or nasty that the human eye should never see, but to her surprise, his secret box was nothing more than a memory box.

The small ivy engraved box held old pictures of his family, his friends, his life. Pictures with him giving a five-year-old Monique piggy back rides, pictures with him, Sam, and Adin in a tangled heap on the ground. Him in dozens of different Halloween costumes. Them together… Along with the pictures were trinkets. A small gold locket that had once belonged to his mother, a smooth black stone, a seashell, an arrowhead, and a penny from 1916. Loose leaf paper also occupied the box, paper with lists. "Scaring ideas", "What I Would Like to do Before I Die", "More Scaring Plots", "Places I'm Going to Visit", "Future". Coleen would've begun to read them, if not for the small square velvet box shoved in the corner of the small space.

She already knew it was jewelry as she took the small box out, all jewelry came in boxes like this, but what type would be this small? A pair of earrings couldn't fit, not even a necklace. Unless it held… With shaky fingers, she cast open the lid and gasped when she saw the ring inside.

Coleen allowed the new tears to fall as she used her free hand to cover her mouth. The small silver ring reflected the faint light of the lamp back to her. Upon the band was a small orange gem, she smiled when she looked more closely and noticed that it was in the shape of a pumpkin head. Flowing on either sides of the pumpkin were names. Coleen on the left, Jack on the right.

As she took it out, a small folded piece of paper drifted down onto her lap. Quickly placing the ring on her finger, a perfect fit, so she wouldn't drop it, she unfolded the note.

"To my scardycat. Forever is a long time, but I'd like to spend it with you. Will you marry me? Jack."

Coleen collapsed on the couch, sobbing into the soft cushions as she hugged the small note close to her heart. He was going to propose! Probably that day, too, for it was their year anniversary.

After he had saved her and had taken care of her that one New Years Day, they had been inseparable. January 23rd, 2002, he had asked her to be his girlfriend. January 23rd, 2003, he would have asked her to be his wife.

She never thought that fate could be so cruel as the shattered pieces of her heart all exploded simultaneously. Why did death take him away from her? Why?

* * *

The few days had turned into a couple weeks, but that no longer mattered as the Halloween Town locals excitedly raced towards their town hall. The day had finally come for the mayor and their Pumpkin King to share their plans for the upcoming Halloween.

Oogie Boogie already stood upon the wooden stage, the mayor to his right; at least a dozen rolled up parchments crammed together under his small arm as the citizens crowded into the large audience chamber and quickly took their seats, eager to get started.

The loud humming of a wheelchair could be heard over the excited chatters of the citizens as Dr. Finklestein was among the last to arrive. Ordering Sally to stay behind, knowing she wasn't ready to be in a large crowd with her new excited heart, the small doctor came alone. He could hardly hide his anxiety, his tiny fingers thrumming the top of his chair's control switch as he wheeled himself to the edge of the back row, stopping next to the Grim Reaper.

"I hope this works, my boy," Dr. Finklestein whispered, casting a nervous glance towards the entrance doors as the lights dimmed and a single spotlight illuminated the stage and those upon it.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," Oogie Boogie's voice rang out loud and clear across the vast audience, "Prepare to be amazed, ha ha, because this Halloween will be out most horrible yet!"

The citizens cheered, already hyped up and excited for their Pumpkin King to continue.

"Now, let's get down to business," the mayor smiled as he picked out a single parchment among the dozens he had, yanked it out, and unrolled it, revealing to the audience strange diagrams and sketches. "As the sun goes down, we'll start with eerie sounds emanating from the forming shadows. Then we'll have…"

The mayor stopped abruptly when Oogie snatched the parchment away from him and threw it over his shoulder. "Not _those _plans, my good man," Oogie chuckled, "_my _plans."

"But… I don't understand," the mayor's once happy face turned 180 degrees to reveal his worried frown, "These _are _your plans. We discussed them just a couple weeks ago."

"Those were… until I thought of this…" Oogie bounced excitedly to the right hand side of the stage, to the audience's left, and yanked on the long rope that hung from the ceiling. The large black curtain parted, revealing the creation that lay behind.

The citizens' enthusiasm slowly turned to disappointed murmurs. What they thought would be frightening, nothing less from their Pumpkin King, turned out to be rather… strange and… dull.

"Behold! The Gambling Arena of Terror!"

The stage held a small gray circle surrounding a small spiked hole. A strange looking propeller type contraption dangled limply over the small hole serving who knows what purpose. What was this? Changing eerie noises in the shadows to… THIS?! What was it supposed to do? Bore the person out of their mind and they run away because they're afraid of going crazy?

"I know it doesn't seem like much now," Oogie interrupted everyone's thoughts and murmurs, clearly able to read the disappointment on all their faces, "this is only a display. The real one is under construction even as we speak, and it will be much bigger and less… gray."

"What is it?" A set of glowing red eyes could be seen beneath the first row bench. The monster who hid under the bed did not like to be out and about, so he sought shelter under whatever was available to him. Yet even though he was hidden from sight, he was never afraid to allow himself to be heard.

"It is my own personal casino, more like a game board than anything," Oogie continued. "You roll the dice, but the number you land on does not get you money. The number you land on doesn't get you luck, no, far from it. No, the number you land on activates a fright. Twelve possible numbers in a roll of two dice which equals twelve different frights that could befall you. After you have been scared senseless, you are free to leave. As for the frights, those too are still a work in progress… but I can, and will, assure you, my fellow citizens. Whatever they turn out to be… they will terrify _anyone_. Just imagine it."

Thoughts and mental pictures began to run through the minds of the many creatures in the town hall. The room was silent as everyone pondered, but one man had already made his decision about what he thought of Oogie's game board.

Dr. Finklestein saw in his large brain a torture chamber. Agonizing screams of innocent people basically being scared to death, coming out traumatized, haunted for the rest of their lives. They couldn't use that, no, the world of the living wasn't ready for something like this. Expecting the others to see what he and agree with him, the doctor was surprised when the audience all burst into enthusiastic cheers, whistling and shouting Oogie Boogie's name.

"Brilliant!"

"Nothing like this has ever been done before!"

"I can see it in my mind. Truly fantastic!"

A broad smile stretched across Oogie's face as he bowed, the citizens now giving him a standing ovation as he continued to soak up the praise like a sponge.

_Jack, where are you?!_

The mayor's worried frown had disappeared, his smiling face returning as he dropped all of the parchments he had been holding to applaud as well. "I don't believe we will even have to go to our altering session. It seems everyone, including myself, is up for this marvelous new idea!"

"I'm not."

The calm, yet loud voice carried easily over the loud cheers of the citizens. Whistles and claps immediately stopped as all eyes turned towards the familiar voice belonging to the tall figure that stood at the doors.

"You…" Oogie gasped, trying to act surprised, yet barely able to hide the tone of disgust clearly heard in his voice.

"Sorry I'm late," Jack stepped through the open doors in a new black pin stripe suit. The tails of his jacket hung long below his waist, a bone white shirt covering his exposed chest. A bat fanned its wings out at the base of the skeleton's neck, serving as a tie to complete his fitting attire.

"Jack Skellington," he took a moment and bowed courteously to the audience, "at your service."

The doctor couldn't help but smile as a silent sigh of relief escaped him.

"Now, Jack," Oogie struggled to sound concerned for the skeleton he had killed, "I don't think you should be out and about after your little breakdown the other week."

"Oh, no, I feel much better now," Jack spoke calmly as he began to walk in between the rows of benches towards the stage. "As for my 'breakdown', I extend my sincerest apologies to everyone here. I have been acting childish and selfish lately and wish to make it up to everyone, except," he stopped before the stage and glared at the Pumpkin King, "… you."

"Well, isn't that being a bit childish right there?" Oogie crossed his arms, no longer hiding his disdain for the pest.

"No, far from it, because I want to set things right. And what I have to say… Well," Jack easily stepped onto the stage with his long legs, "I can't see any excuse you could possibly use to back down from it."

"And what might that be?"

"I challenge Oogie Boogie in a battle of frights for the title of Pumpkin King."

The audience gasped, slowly growing silent from shock. The last time someone had challenged the Pumpkin King had been fifty-two years ago! Oogie Boogie had been the one to challenge the cocky corpse and had beaten the former king by a landslide. Too embarrassed to face anyone, the corpse had wondered into the woods, never to be seen or heard from again.

"Now, Jack," the mayor's frown had returned, constantly worrying about the sparks that flew whenever Jack and Oogie were near each other, "Must we do this now? I'm only an elected official and we only have so much time to prepare…"

"We still have plenty of time to get ready for Halloween, Mayor," Jack interrupted the short man's worried ranting. "The Pumpkin King can either accept my challenge or, if he's too scared to take me on, he can decline, and we can go on like nothing ever happened."

Shortly after he had finished, Oogie closed the gap between them, coming right up to Jack. Hardly an inch between them, Jack had to look up, Oogie being the only one in town who surpassed his height, as the large sack of bugs narrowed his empty black eyes at the skeleton.

"_Who_ said I was afraid?"

"Maybe you are, you just don't want to admit it."

"You're making a big mistake. You know that, don't you, Jackie?" Oogie lowered his voice to an angry hiss so only Jack could hear what he had to say. "You don't stand a chance against me."  
"If I don't, no one will. You can't keep your throne forever, Oogie. So, do we have a deal?" Jack took a step back and stretched his open palm out till he was nearly touching the rugged sack.

Oogie's hand flew out and clamped around Jack's, not even pausing for a second thought. "I accept," he sneered.

"Well, once again, things have changed," the mayor began slowly, unsure of how to proceed as he turned back towards the silent audience. "Citizens, we will continue our original plans to perform her in Halloween Town, while Jack and Oogie Boogie will be departing for the world of the living on Halloween to carry out their contest. We shall watch and keep close track of their work through our town square's fountain, but I'm going to have to see if I can't find the rules to this challenge first."

Sensing this meeting had reached an end and not knowing what else to do, the citizens clapped and cheered once again, excitement now taking over the passing shock. This challenge seemed pretty new to them after so many years.

Jack had to yank his boney hand away from Oogie's firm grip, stumbling a couple steps back once he was free. "Prepare to be amazed," was the last thing he said before he jumped off the stage and walked down the aisle; worming his way through the departing crowd and not daring to look back at his competition.

Oogie watched the skeleton until he came to a stop at a creature hiding in the back row. Dr. Finklestein… He began to stroke his chin, thinking, as his eyes followed Jack and the good doctor out of the town hall.


	10. Chapter 9: A Terrible Feeling

**Author's Note:** I know, I know, I'm terrible at updating my chapters. I would apologize, but I think I'm beginning to sound like a broken record, so you all know how sorry I am. This wasn't the most exciting chapter I've written for this story, but I find it more of a filler than anything, but from here on out is where it gets fun for me. I'm really excited about writing the next few chapters of this story because things start to get intense. :) And to answer many readers' questions, the main battle between Jack and Oogie won't happen until the end of the book, so please be patient and it shall come soon enough. I would love to say that I'll get the next few chapters up quickly, but my schedule's pretty busy for the upcoming month. I have ISSMA contest for band and my teacher's really breathing down our necks about perfecting the pieces we're playing and who knew that prom of all things could be so stressful. But, on the plus side, I am now officially attending Valparaiso University! Just 6 more weeks and I'm officially a college student!!!!!!!! WOO HOO!!!!!! And I'm using the word "officially" a lot too, my bad. :) Anyway, I'm rambling now, so I'm going to go get dinner and watch Transformers 2 before finishing my homework. Please enjoy chapter 9 of **A Walk in the Dark**!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Tim Burton's: The Nightmare Before Christmas, but I forgot to mention that I recently purchased the video game The Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie's Revenge. Holy Crap! That game is so much fun and dangerously addicting! I highly recommend it to any Nightmare fan out there who hasn't tried it. :)

* * *

**Ch. 9 – A Terrible Feeling**

_He likes me… He likes me not… He likes me… He likes me not…_

The light mist that had been drifting through the air hiding nearby objects from sight was now beginning to fade away as the rising sun broke through the fog, casting its bright rays on Halloween Town on this quiet, late March morning.

In the silent graveyard, a rag doll sat alone atop Curly Hill. She hummed to herself as she plucked petal after petal from a dead, wilting flower and allowed them to drift to the ground below.

_He likes me… He likes me not…_

Over the past couple of months, Sally had been learning about all of the new emotions and feelings she had acquired with her new heart; happiness, sadness, surprise, anger, laughter, joy, peace. But there was one emotion she couldn't quite figure out. She wasn't sure if she wanted to talk to the doctor about it, but she was only really able to experience it whenever she was around Jack. The feeling she got around the skeleton was much different than all the others; a feeling… she really liked. Because of this feeling, she now grew quiet whenever he was around. She would become shy and timid whenever he asked her for a favor and couldn't help but smile whenever he walked into a room.

Not knowing… Not wanting to tell anyone, especially Jack, about her inner feelings, Sally would wonder around Halloween Town, alone, lost in her dreams of what could never be.

Two petals remained among the rag doll's dead flower. She let out a long sigh as she let the flower fall down the hill, knowing the answer to her game before she could reach the end.

"He likes me… not," Sally sighed as she closed her eyes.

_Sally?!_

Sally's eyes immediately shot open again, her head perking up as a voice drifted through the air surrounding her… the doctor's voice. His frantic call sounded as if he were sitting right next to her, yet when she glanced out over the graveyard resting at the base of Curly Hill, she saw nothing but tombstones.

_Sally, run!_

The rag doll jumped as, yet again, the doctor's voice rang crystal clear through her mind. "Dr. Finklestein?! Where are you?!" Her voice echoed across the empty graveyard as she quickly rose to her feet and descended down the hill. His frantic voice had seemed more urgent this time, more scared…

Suddenly, the remaining layer of fog drifting above the ground began to move, swirling in strange patterns of its own accord. Sally found herself stopping as the mist came to a halt right in front of her. It twisted and molded till she could make out a forming face. Hollow eyes squinted as its large mouth formed into a broad smile. A low laugh that made her skin crawl with unease filled the air, echoing as the face disappeared until it faded back into an unbearable dead silence.

Sally couldn't seem to get her legs to move as she stood, rooted to the ground, her eyes wide with horror. Even though she had not been allowed to go into town alone, she still knew who a majority of the creatures living there were. And that face… looked just like the Pumpkin King… but something wasn't right…

Struggling to find out what just happened, Sally found her motivation to move her legs. Whatever it was she had just witnessed, it must have been a sign… a sign of danger as the rag doll ran as fast as she could back to her creator's lab.

* * *

The loud humming of Dr. Finklestein's wheelchair echoed throughout the large, metallic lab as he descended down the ramp towards the front door. He stopped once he had reached the bottom, staring silently at the skeleton sitting before a long black desk against the far wall.

Multiple wads of crumpled paper littered the ground, scattered all over the stone floor. With his elbows resting on the desktop, Jack cradled his skull within his boney hands, while Zero, who had now taken up permanent residence in the doctor's lab, slept soundly on the ground next to Jack's feet.

"I can't think of anything, doctor," Jack sighed, not even having to turn around to know that the doctor was there. "I used to get so many ideas when I was alive, but now… I can't think of anything."

"You still have time, my boy," Dr. Finklestein tried to soothe the skeleton's nerves.

"But it's going fast," Jack spun around in his chair to face the doctor, "Oogie knows what he's going to do for Halloween, while for the first time, I have nothing."

"Jack, Jack, Jack," wheeling forward, Dr. Finklestein placed his small hand upon Jack's tense shoulders, "You need to take a break. You've been pushing your brain too hard in this stuffy old lab. Go for a walk; maybe that will help to ease your mind. Why not take Zero with you?"

At the sound of his name, Zero rose from his light slumber. The back of the small ghost dog's apparition, where the tail would be, began to move with excitement as he cast big, longing eyes up at Jack.

Jack sighed again. He had to keep working, but a nice walk in the graveyard could really be what his aching skull was longing for. "All right. Do you need me here right now?"

"I'm fine, Jack. I am perfectly capable of looking after myself. Just get out of here," Dr. Finklestein was nearly pushing Jack out the door as the skeleton slowly began to rise from his chair.

"All right, all right. Come on, Zero."

Zero quickly rose from the floor and obediently floated after Jack, whom he had now officially dubbed to be his new master.

"Take as much time as you need, my boy," the doctor called out after the skeleton from the lab's front door, "You're in no hurry today."

Jack couldn't help but smile as shortly after the doctor's voice trailed off, the large metal door slammed shut. He had a feeling Dr. Finklestein wouldn't let him back in for a least a few hours, so he might as well enjoy his walk while it lasted, if he could get his mind off of Halloween, that is.

As Zero led the way through the town square towards Jack's favorite thinking place, the skeleton couldn't help but glance up at the large clock above the town hall as he slowly walked by. That special Halloween Town clock didn't just tell its citizens what time it was; it also reminded them how many more days of preparation they had left until that year's Halloween.

Jack found himself staring at the countdown everyday, becoming more anxious and worried as he watched that number fall. 218 days until Halloween…

* * *

"218 days left until Halloween," Monique Shelton read aloud as she removed another orange number from her countdown on her wall. "Wow, days are beginning to go by so fast now…"

"You'd better hurry, sweetheart," Monique jumped as her mother's voice called through her closed oak door, "The bus is going to be here soon. I don't want you to be late again."

"It's a work in progress, Mom," the preteen called back as she hastily began digging through the piles of clothes littering her floor. Was that top clean? No… she wore that yesterday… Did she wash that pair of jeans last weekend?

"Well, work faster. Your breakfast will be waiting on the table, so hurry it up."

Monique groaned, rolling her eyes as she chose a white jacket with black rose patterns, a black-laced cami, and a dark pair of once-worn jeans to wear for the day. A rule parents should know is to not tell a teenager, or a preteen in her case, to hurry up at 6:15 in the freakin morning. That was something she was NOT going to miss once she was gone… Gone forever…

Teachers, adults, parents; all of them try to penetrate through the thick skulls belonging to the younger generation that suicide is not your ticket to getting rid of your problems, and here she was, planning her death that was to come in the next seven months. But she wasn't killing herself to be rid of her problems; her death was her ticket to seeing Jack again. Still, a small feeling of doubt continued to linger in the back of her mind, hanging out right next to her conscience. The two would pair up and speak to her… _That sign says 218 days; it doesn't have to be this way… _

"No, no. Monique, no," the preteen shook her head as she lectured herself aloud. "You told yourself before, you're stuck. No turning back now. You're doing this for Jack, only for Jack." She gazed into a mirror hanging from her wall. Hmm… not the best she'd ever looked before, what with her long black hair tied up in a messy bun and no make-up upon her pale face, but it would do for the day. "Alrighty, then," she smiled, nodding at her reflection gazing back at her, "time for school."

As she grabbed her coat and backpack and opened her bedroom door, Monique noticed she had a small bounce in her stride as she waltzed down the hallway towards the kitchen. Leave it up to a little pep talk from yourself to lift your spirits. She also noticed that she wasn't as sad anymore whenever she thought about Jack; not like she had been a couple months before. She figured it was because with each passing day, she was closer to seeing her brother again.

"Can you believe it?!" Monique could hear her father's voice echoing from the kitchen. "It's nearly April and it's two degrees below freezing! God, I hate it here!"

"Just relax, Michael," her mother's soothing voice followed shortly after, "You've lived her long enough to know that Northwest weather is unpredictable. Spring will come soon, it always does."

"Yeah, but not soon enough," Michael put down _The Chicago Tribune_ and looked at his wife. "I swear, when Mo graduates from college, you and I are moving to Puerto Rico."

"Puerto Rico? What made you think of that place?"

"I don't know. It's warm there."

"So is Florida."

"We're not living in the same State as your parents."

"Oh, come on, Michael, they're not bad people. They like you, remember?"

"That's just the thing thought, Jasmine. They like me too much. So much that they'll never leave us alone. I would like some alone time with my wife, if you don't mind…"

"Not in front of your daughter. Speaking of which, where is that girl? Moni… Oh, there you are."

"I know, I know, I'm late," Monique cleared her throat, attempting to stifle a laugh after hearing her parent's "unusual" conversation. "I'll just grab a Pop Tart and eat it on the bus."

"You seem to be in a peppy mood today," Michael gazed over the rim of his delicate reading glasses towards his daughter. "What happened to the 'Princess of Darkness' look you've been pulling off for the last couple of months?"

"Well, I don't feel that way anymore. I thought of Jack this morning and it made me happy rather than sad.'

The room grew silent, as it always did whenever Jack was mentioned, but it wasn't a sinister, depressing silence like it usually was. It seemed calmer, more peaceful. Jasmine's tapping heels broke the silence as she carried a pack of brown sugar Pop Tarts over to her daughter, kissing her gently on the forehead once the preteen took the pastries from her hand. "That's great to know, sweetheart, truly wonderful."

"Yeah. Well, if I dawdle any longer, I'll miss the bus. I'll call you guys when I get home."

"Love you, sweetie."

"Oh, and watch your step. With this unusually bitter temperature, there's more than likely some black ice on the roads."

"Thanks, Dad, will do. Love you," Monique called over her shoulder as she headed out the door. She immediately began to walk to the end of her steep driveway, knowing her cranky bus driver would skip her house if she wasn't in sight. About halfway down the concrete, the preteen's foot slid across an invisible, slick force and before she was able to stop herself, she fell.

"Ow!" Monique clenched her teeth as she rubbed her sore butt. "What a wake up call; that really hurt! Stupid black ice…" As the surrounding cold air began to numb her pain, an image began to form in the preteen's mind.

_She's walking down the driveway to her bus, when she suddenly slips on a large invisible patch of black ice. She is unable to stop herself from falling and finds herself sliding down the steep driveway. She comes to a stop right in the middle of the street. The bus is screeching to a halt just a few feet away…_

Toning out everything around her, Monique dug through her backpack until she found her small black journal, a white skull and crossbones sticker hidden in the bottom left hand corner of the hard cover. She then fished out a pen and frantically began to write, not even hearing the loud school bus pull alongside the curb of her driveway.

"Today would be nice, Ms. Shelton."

Monique jerked her head up from her journal to see her impatient bus driver, Mr. Labis, strumming his fingers along the rim of the large steering wheel before him, gazing down the steep steps at the preteen through the parted doors.

Without a word, Monique gathered up her belongings, picked herself up from the ground, grunting as the pain returned to her behind, and slowly climbed onto the bus. Impatiently, Mr. Labis closed the doors as soon as he knew the preteen was inside, then he began to accelerate, causing her to stumble down the narrow aisle between the seats.

"Are you okay, Mo?" Heidi asked as Monique plopped down in the seat next to her. Heidi Bennet would have been considered part of the popular crowd because of her long, straight blonde hair, slender figure, and fair features, but her and Monique Shelton had been best friends ever since they started middle school.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Monique smiled as she crammed her little black book into her still-open backpack. She didn't want anyone to see it and start asking her about the contents inside… Too late.

"Hey, whatcha' got there, Mojo?" A chubby kid with greasy, unkempt black hair appeared in the seat behind the girls, hovering over them to get a better look at whatever was in Monique's lap.

"Go away, Chris," Monique sighed. Chris Gutenheimer was an exchange student from Germany and so far, he had made it perfectly clear to everyone at school that he wanted to know about EVERYTHING. He had also become attached to Monique, but for some strange reason, couldn't pronounce her full name, so he had given her the nickname Mojo.

"Is that a secret diary? A book about an American preteen's secrets and lies? I want to see! Oh, please, let me see!"

"Leave me alone… Hey! Don't touch me!"

"Come on, Momo…"

It must have just slipped out by accident; Chris wouldn't have known, but Monique couldn't stop herself as, without hesitation, she turned around in her set and slapped the boy across the face, sending him sprawling over the kids sitting behind him.

"Don't. You. EVER. Call. Me. That. Again. Got it?"

"Everybody sit down and shut up!" Mr. Labis yelled, witnessing what had taken place through the large rearview mirror. "The baby kept me up late last night, so don't test my patience!"

"Whoa, Monique," Heidi whispered as Chris hastily made his way to the back of the bus, trying to get as far away from the crazed preteen as possible, "I've never seen you hit anybody before. Not even a friendly punch on your brother."

"I've NEVER hit anybody before, but… I snapped. Sorry, Heidi."

"You don't have to apologize, but what happened? Was it what he called you?"

Monique nodded slowly. "It's what Jack used to call me. No one else is allowed to call me that, but him."

"I'm sorry, Mo."

"Don't be. I know I'll see him again someday."

"Yeah… that's a good way of thinking. Oh, sorry to change the subject, but Lindsay and a group of girls were going to go to Lake Michigan after school. Want to come?"

"Um… Well…" Monique was hesitant. Would she rather spend an evening with Lindsay Macow, the preppiest of the preps at her school who cared about no one but herself, or would she rather go home and attempt to do math homework? Tough choice…

"Please, Mo?" Heidi clasped her hands together, pleading her friend with wide, puppy-dog eyes, "It would be much more fun with you. You don't even have to hang out with her. We could do stuff together. What do you say?"

"Why the beach, if that's where we're going?"

"Because it's cold; no one will be there and it'll be all ours for a day."

Monique smiled as she finally caved in. "All right, I'll go, but if you make me talk to Lindsay, I swear I'll tackle you." The preteen knew her days were numbered as her friend engulfed her in a loving embrace, so she might as well do whatever she could before her time was up.

* * *

Tinkering with gizmos and gadgets, mixing elements and compounds, isolated from the outside world, hidden in a metallic domain; oh, yeah, the life of a scientist was definitely something to be jealous of.

Even after death, Dr. Finklestein continued this lifestyle as he wheeled around his lab, searching for different decomposable items he could use for his latest experiment. Grabbing a handful of Witch Hazel from a small box, the small albino doctor made his way back to his work table, adding the small, twisted twigs to the many other items atop the work station.

Jack had promised the doctor that he could get rid of the memories that tortured him so as soon as he saw his family again. The only problem was, Dr. Finklestein hadn't found the right mixture to create the potion to erase those memories yet. Everything he tried would cause physical pain during the erasing process and the doctor wanted to make it as painless as possible for the skeleton, seeing as how the poor boy had dealt with so much already.

As the doctor set to work on a new potion recipe, a large shadow suddenly cloaked his working area.

"Hello, doctor."

"Oogie Boogie," Dr. Finklestein said with as little emotion as possible as he turned himself around to face the large sack of bugs. "Haven't you ever heard of knocking?"

"The door was open," Oogie's sinister smile seemed even more twisted as he spoke to the doctor, "so I invited myself in."

"What do you want?"

"Oh, I know you're a busy man, but I thought I might stop by for a little chat."

"Cut to the chase, Oogie. Talk to me about what?"

"Oh, I don't know. New inventions, plans for Halloween, possible CONTEST ideas Jack might have in mind…"

Dr. Finklestein unleashed a frustrated sigh as he shook his head. "THAT'S why you came here? Well, in that case, you've just wasted both of our times. I trust you know the way out."

Before the doctor could return to his work, Oogie lashed out and knocked his wheelchair to the ground, sending Dr. Finklestein sprawling out among the hard stone floor.

"Now, don't lie to me, old man," Oogie sneered as he bent down and wrapped a hand around the doctor's thin neck, hoisting his small, powerless body into the air. "I see you hanging around that skeleton all the time. What are his ideas for the competition?"

"Oogie," the doctor chocked with surprise, "What's gotten into you?!"

"Answer me, doctor, before I'm forced to hurt you."

"I swear, he hasn't thought of anything yet!"

"Liar…" There really wasn't a point in tightening his grip, seeing as how Oogie could not cut off the doctor's air supply when he no longer needed the oxygen.

"Dr. Finklestein!"

"Sally?!"

"Now, now, rag doll, I don't need any interruptions right now. Wait outside like a good girl, you're up next."

"Sally, run!"

"Shut up!" Oogie roared as he threw Dr. Finklestein across the lab. The small doctor's body collided with the hard metallic wall and slumped to the floor. He was unhurt and still conscious, but without his wheelchair and his body being in the condition it was in, he couldn't move.

"Dr. Finklestein!" It was déjà vu; everything she had heard that morning was being said now as Sally began to run over to help her creator. But before she could even make it three steps, Oogie came up behind the rag doll and wrapped his arms around her, hugging her struggling form close to his body. Sally's eyes widened with fear as she saw the face she had seen in the mist now plastered on the large sack of bugs that was holding her.

"You two ain't goin' nowhere."


	11. Chapter 10: Search and Rescue

**Author's Note:** Huh, I guess this chapter's a little bit shorter than I expected... oh, well. Oh, I forgot... Hiya, peoples! I usually start out my notes like that. :) Um... I think I'm speaking gibberish right now, I just got back from a kickboxing class and I can't think straight, so I won't keep you guys waiting any longer. I also kind of lied again... action doesn't start till the NEXT chapter, but I'm going to make it up to you guys. I do have a surprise, but since I'm terrible at keeping secrets, I will spoil it for you. Check back here Thrusday and... drum roll please... Ch. 11 WILL BE POSTED UP! Crazy, right? I know, I'm always terrible at posting frequently, but I've been so bored at school, so I decided to write. Plus, since I'm a senior, I'm exempt from quite a few of my finals, so I might be able to write more during this upcoming week! Yay! But, please, don't cross your fingers, cause as I said, I'm terrible at posting. Well, I'll shut up now, enjoy Ch. 10 of **A Walk in the Dark**. By the way, 7 school days and I will be an official college student! :)

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Tim Burton's: The Nightmare Before Christmas, but I was FINALLY able to watch it with my sister! That movie will never get old. :)

* * *

**Ch. 10 – Search and Rescue**

"Still nothing," Jack sighted in defeat as he made his way through the large, black main gate leading into Halloween Town. "Trying to not think about Halloween is impossible at this point. Hmm… Do you have any ideas, Zero?"

Floating closely next to Jack's left side, the small ghost dog whimpered, his ears drooping as he shook his head slowly.

"Try not to worry about it, boy," Jack tried to soothe his companion, although he was stressing more than anyone. It was amazing at how close he had become with Zero, the ghost dog now able to sense every mood the skeleton was feeling. "I mean, I guess the best ideas always take time to develop… I just wish that this one would come a little faster…"

"Jack!"

Gazing up from the stone ground, Jack noticed two of the few Halloween Town children running towards him. No doubt, he loved how energetic and fun the children of the town were, but the skeleton secretly wished that no more would arrive anytime soon. Young kids should have the chance to live in a world of lift, not thrive in a world of death.

As the small, one-eyed mummy and the sewn-eyed corpse child neared Jack, the roly-poly corpse tripped over a stone and went rolling across the ground, stopping only when he made impact with the skeleton's long legs.

"Whoa, careful there, Jeffery," Jack knelt down and propped the corpse child back up onto his small feet as the mummy child, Daniel, came to a stop nearby. "You alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Jeffery nodded, a big smile on his face as he bent down to pick up a black basket, about the size of an Easter basket, Jack hadn't even realized the child had been carrying. "We brought you something, Jack."

"A little present to wish you luck," Daniel added cheerfully as Jeffery handed the mysterious basket to Jack. A tattered rag with old orange Halloween confetti hid the contents from sight.

"We're rooting for you," and with that, the children scampered away before the surprised skeleton could even say thank you. As their laughter faded into silence, Jack curiously removed the cloth, wondering what the children could have possibly given him. He smiled when he discovered several old toys cluttered inside: a small guillotine took up half of the space within the basket while on the other half, there was a blue gargoyle, a bone fish, a voodoo doll that strangely resembled Miley Cyrus, a scruffy black cat, and a red snake with bizarre yellow and green patterns running all along its long, coiled body.

Subconsciously, Jack's legs began to walk towards the doctor's lab, slowly climbing the large steps as he continued to stare at the unusual gifts he had received. The adults of Halloween Town sure had a strange sense of safety when it came to the toys their children played with as he glanced at the small, razor sharp blade of the guillotine.

He suddenly found himself stopping as his footsteps began to echo around him. Jack looked up and realized he was already in the lab. Had he passed through the large metal entrance door? No, they were open. But… the doctor never kept that door open.

"Are you letting in some air, doctor?" Jack allowed the echo to carry his voice up to Dr. Finklestein's lab as he walked over and placed his goodie basked on top of his cluttered desk. His echo faded; no reply.

Zero suddenly began to growl as Jack watched the usually perky ghost dog float to the bottom of the long ramp that led up towards the doctor's lab.

"Doctor?" Jack slowly began to ascend up the ramp, following his eager companion. If the doctor had left while he was out, he would've shut the door. "Sally?" He found himself walking faster as they neared the top of the tower. Something was wrong… Definitely wrong as Jack discovered Dr. Finklestein's metal lab door hanging weakly on one hinge. Just a touch would have brought it crashing to the ground.

"Good, God," was all the stunned skeleton could say as he entered a war zone. Lab equipment was in disarray, scattered everywhere imaginable. Cracked and broken machine parts and test tubes littered the metal floor. It didn't seem like anything was left untouched by the devastator… but WHO could've done this? And where were Dr. Finklestein and Sally?

Zero's whine caught Jack's attention. The small ghost dog sniffed around the wreckage, then gazed at his master with sad eyes, saying in his own silent language that he could not find what he was looking for.

"I wish I knew, Zero, but I've got a pretty good guess that this is the handy work of… ah!" Jack jumped back, startled, as he felt something wrap around his ankle. Quickly gazing down, he saw a blue arm lying on the ground: dead fall leaves stuck out where it should've been connected to a shoulder, black stitching lay loose and untied, tangled within the leaves falling out of it, red nail polish decorated the fingers of the hand grasping his bone. Bending down, he managed to pry it off of him and examine it more carefully.

"Wait a minute, this is Sally's arm! Sally! Where are you?" Jack didn't have to worry about where to start looking for the rag doll as the arm he held began to wave, drawing his attention to a small cardboard box it pointed out under a toppled table. Not wasting any time, the skeleton quickly approached the box and wrestled it open.

"Sally," Jack gasped as he found the rag doll's head within the tiny, cramped space. A tattered cloth hung from her mouth, serving as a gag to prevent any calls for help, yet her eyes told anyone who found her that she was scared. "What happened here?" He asked as he removed the cloth from her mouth.

"Oh, Jack… He took him… He took him!"

"Who took who? Who did all of this?"

"When I was out walking this morning, I saw something weird. Almost like a sign that was telling me something was wrong. I rushed back here and… I couldn't stop him… He tore me apart… Jack, Oogie Boogie took Dr. Finklestein!"

"What?" Jack had had a feeling it was Oogie all along, but he had no idea the sack of bugs would stoop THIS low just to win a contest. Trying to calm his boiling rage, the skeleton had to take this one step at a time. The first step was to help Sally pull herself back together. "Don't worry, Sally, I'm going to make things right, but first, let me find your body parts so we can sew you back together.:

With the help of Sally's head and her severed right arm, Jack was able to locate the rest of the rag doll's dismembered parts scattered all around the doctor's laboratory, although he did have to encourage her left hand down, somehow having made it on top of the towering roof of the metal building. Then, gently laying her body parts on the ground and having dug out a needle and some black thread, Jack delicately picked up Sally's head and placed it on top of her dressed torso.

"Now, you're sure this isn't going to hurt you?" Jack asked nervously as he held the small, sharp needle an inch away from her thin neck.

"Not at all. Just think of it as sewing together a worn out sweater. Nothing to it," Sally reassured as the arm that had grabbed his leg before began to gently pat his knee.

"Right…" Jack slowly punctured her skin. The needle slipped right through the fabric that covered the leaves within her body. He quickly looked at Sally's face for any sign of pain or discomfort: not even a flinch. Trying to picture his mother sewing his Halloween costumes for him every year, Jack pushed and pulled the needle in and out of Sally's neck, making his way around her head until he ended where he began. Then, he took hold of the arm at his knee and set to work once again.

"Forgive me, Sally, I'm sorry to say that I've never sewn anything in my life and for a first timer, this is a terrible job."

"Don't worry about it, I really appreciate the help. Here, I'll handle the rest," as soon as Jack had finished up on her right arm, Sally took the needle and thread and set to work, making quick progress with what remained. "We must hurry. We have to tell the others what's happened so they can help us find Dr. Finklestein."

"We can't, Sally.  
"Why not?"

"Nobody will believe us. Trust me on this, for I learned it the hard way. It's just the two of us on this one…" Pent up rage could not be contained as Jack's boney fingers curled into tight fists and came slamming down on the already dented metal floor. "I should've stayed here! It could've happened at any time, but the one time I chose to leave, it does!"

Unable to take in deep breaths to help calm him down, Jack settled for the comfort from the small hand that rested gently upon his shaking should. Gazing up, his eye sockets met Sally's gentle black eyes, her body complete again and kneeling down on the floor before him.

"You didn't know," Sally tried to soothe the fuming skeleton. "Even if you did, what would you have been able to do? He could've hurt you, as well."

"I could've at least tried to stop him for hurting you two, though." Determination quickly replacing his earlier rage, Jack suddenly unfurled his tight fists, took hold of Sally's hand, and hoisted her onto her feet. "Come on."

"Uh… Where are we going?" Sally asked surprised as Jack half-dragged her out of the wrecked lab and began the descent down the steep ramp leading to the front door.

"To find the doctor."

"I knew that, but where do you plan we start looking?"

"First, I plan to ask around."

"But I thought…"

"We're not going to tell anyone what happened. We're simply going to ask if anyone has seen Oogie or Dr. Finklestein lately. Just some helpful advice… nothing more…"

Helpful advice really wasn't how Jack could describe it as the two ran outside and split up to ask anyone they met if they had seen the doctor or their "beloved" Pumpkin King. More like no one had any clue as to the whereabouts of the two missing people.

"The doctor? He's in his lab like he always is… isn't he?"

"I haven't seen him since out meeting a while back. He never comes out to socialize much, you know? Always experimenting in that stuffy old lab."

"I saw Oogie come into town earlier, but I never saw him leave. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, never mind," Jack was getting very irritated as he walked away from Clown, who simply shrugged his shoulders and rode off on his unicycle to do… whatever it was he did in his spare time.

Jack was getting nowhere fast. How could a sack of bugs, the size of an overly-large coffin, get into Halloween Town, sneak inconspicuously into the doctor's lab, wreck havoc, and finally kidnap the doctor right underneath everyone's noses? Were all the citizens clearly that oblivious to something like this happening in their town? The skeleton placed his hands on his head, gazing around to see if there were any more pinheads he could possibly get some "helpful information" out of.

"Hey, Jack! I know what you're looking for and you're looking in the wrong place."

A high-pitched voice penetrated through Jack's thoughts. Lowering his arms, he turned around to see Annabelle, a small winged demon child, hanging upside down from one of the town square's surrounding stone street lamps, looking at him.

"You know where the doctor is?" Jack asked eagerly, having to crane his neck to look up at the child as he quickly approached her.

"Not exactly, but I have a pretty good idea," Annabelle let one of her wings drop from the lamppost until she was dangling in front of Jack, hanging on with one small talon. "I saw Oogie sneak off he had the doctor and his wheelchair with him."

"Do you have any idea which way he went?" Jack didn't want to sound demanding, but he was desperate. He was finally getting somewhere and as he sensed Sally approaching his left side, he knew she had overheard the news as well.

"Don't get your bones in a bunch, Jack, let me get down first."

"I'm sorry, Annabelle, but this is a serious matter. The doctor is in danger."

"That's not good at all," Annabelle spoke calmly as she released her grip on the lamppost, landing on her wings as soon as she was on the ground. "Follow me." Using her wings as legs as well, Jack and Sally followed the small demon towards the doctor's lab. Instead of going inside, though, Annabelle led the two around the large metallic building towards the back. Reaching their destination, the skeleton and rag doll were amazed to see a steep hill leading down to an extension of the woods that rested beyond the graveyard.

"My best bet," Annabelle chimed in, breaking the silence of the coming night, "is that Oogie took the doctor to his home. It's just a theory, though."

Jack's gaze roamed through the dead trees, almost as if he could see Oogie's wretched form, until his eye sockets rested on a crumpled black heap at the bottom of the hill. The skeleton took off, nearly stumbling down the steep incline until he reached the… the doctor's wheelchair.

"Dr. Finklestein!" Jack called out into the twilit woods determination overwhelming him with great intensity. "Dr. Finkle… ah, that's no use. Zero!" A familiar bark could be heard in the distance as the small ghost dog flew through the wall from within the doctor's lab and obediently went to his master. "We're getting somewhere, boy," Jack pointed to the doctor's wrecked wheelchair. "Find the doctor!"

Zero sniffed the heap as Sally slowly finished her descent down the hill and was now hurrying over to the tense skeleton, his eye sockets never leaving his small companion. Immediately picking up on a scent, Zero barked enthusiastically before flying into the woods.

"Come on, Sally!" Jack hurried after Zero, not wanting to lose sight of the dog's glowing nose in the ever darkening woods. "Thank you!" He called over his shoulder, hoping Annabelle had heard him as they traveled deeper and deeper into unknown territory… more than likely… Oogie's territory.

But Dr. Finklestein had done so much for him ever since he had arrived in this town. He had given answers to his many questions and had treated him like his own son. There was no way in hell that Jack was about to let anything happen to him.


	12. Chapter 11: Doesn't Belong to You

**Author's Note:** Hiya, peoples! :) Well... TA-DAH! I kept true to my word! And I made this chapter longer than the last one! Man, I had so much fun writing this one and I think you'll enjoy it, too, but... you're also going to hate me as well. My next update won't be until the week AFTER next week. My aunt and uncle are coming from California on Sunday and are staying for the week, my last day of school is on Wednesday, and... drum roll again please... I'M GRADUATING ON THURSDAY! And then my open house is on Saturday, so next week is really busy for me. But I promise I will update early the week of June 6th... because I kind of left this one at a cliff hanger... sorry, I couldn't help myself! Temptation was killing me! Anyway, enjoy this chapter and please don't kill me!

**Disclaimer:** Once again... *sighs*... I really hate saying this... but I don't own Tim Burton's: The Nightmare Before Christmas...

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**Ch. 11 – Doesn't Belong To You**

Oogie's house wasn't much of a house. In fact, Jack was surprised that the ramshackled building that balanced upon the large dead tree over a dark gorge even managed to stay up, let alone support Oogie Boogie's weight. But as he hid within the trees surrounding the tall looming shack in the shadows on the very outskirts of Halloween Town, the skeleton knew this had to be the place. Why else would Zero have led him and Sally to a place like this?

"Oh, the doctor must be trapped inside," only thinking about the doctor's well being, Sally began to subconsciously walk away from the shelter of the woods towards the sinister looking "home" before her, unaware that the Pumpkin King could have possibly planted booby traps to catch trespassers.

"Sally, wait," Jack whispered urgently, quickly yanking Sally towards him and holding her close behind a tree as two shadows descended from the shack down the large tree in what appeared to be an oversized birdcage attached to a thick cord.

"Man, this thing is heavy!"

"Of course it is, doofus, it's nearly bigger than you!"

"You, too!"

Jack, Sally, and Zero peeked out from behind the thick tree that hid them from sight and saw Lock and Barrel dragging a large black bag with small orange pumpkins scattered around it from the cage elevator. Whatever was in the bag was about three quarters of the size of Lock, nearly the same size as Barrel since he was shorter.

"You two are so stupid!" Shock's shrill voice pierced the quiet night as she came into view. The little witch had appeared from behind the large tree and was now headed towards her two partners in crime, followed closely behind by a walking… bathtub? "Did you ever think about just sticking it in here?"

"Well, NOW we have! You hid it on purpose, didn't you?"

"I did no such thing! You two are just blind! It was sitting exactly where it's been for the past week!"

"Would you both just shut up and help me hoist this thing in?" Lock interrupted Shock and Barrel's quarrelling as he drew their attention to the large bag sitting on the ground beside him. "The doctor's brain isn't exactly light, you know!"

"The doctor's brain?"

Without saying a word, Jack covered Sally's mouth and hugged her closer to his chest; squeezing his eye sockets shut and praying the three tricksters hadn't heard the rag doll's worried outburst. He breathed an imaginary sigh of relief when, after a couple of minutes, he noticed the children were too wrapped up in trying to get the bag into the bathtub then to pay attention to their surroundings. What Jack failed to notice, though, was the pink coloring that had overcome Sally's cheeks, her heart skipping a beat being so close to him.

The trio managed to hoist the doctor's brain all the way into their means of transportation, the precious cargo landing with a sickening thud at the bottom of the ceramic tub as its legs began to wobble under the unexpected strain.

"Okay," Lock panted, leaning against the tub, "now what?"

"Oogie just said to dispose of it," Shock replied, equally as tired as her cohorts.

"Which means," Barrel had this smile that stretched from ear to ear, but it usually signaled trouble. So when Jack saw that broad smile cross his small face, he knew it didn't signify something good. "We can get creative!"

The three children laughed together, which to Jack sounded more like a group of hyenas cackling than anything, as they skipped alongside their strange bathtub, who clearly showed that it was struggling, away from Oogie Boogie's house and into the dark woods.

As soon as their laughter had faded into the night, Jack let Sally go and allowed both her and Zero to come out of their hiding place, his eye sockets searching for any possible traps as they revealed themselves. After scanning the seemingly clear area, his gaze rested on the shack. "Oh, man, without his brain… the doctor's really in trouble."

"Jack," Sally's voice was unusually serious, making him turn towards her to discover a look of determination upon her gentle face. "Go after the doctor. Zero and I will go after the brain."

"Listen, Sally, I know you want to help, but I don't want to leave you along again. You're safer with me."

"We can't delay anymore, Jack. If we don't split up, we'll lose that brain… and if we lose that brain…"

Jack already knew the answer to that statement and solemnly finished it for Sally. "We lose the doctor… Yeah… I know…" Placing his hands on his hips, the skeleton was torn between the safety of two of his closest friends. He knew, for a fact, that no matter how hard he tried, he would never be able to protect both of them.

"I'll be fine," the gentleness in Sally's voice returned as she reached for his boney hand. "Trust me."

"All right," Jack sighed, "Just PLEASE be careful."

After giving his hand a reassuring squeeze, Sally took off after the three tricksters, disappearing into the dark woods with Zero following closely behind her.

Jack had to physically shake his head to get his mind back on track. He couldn't worry about Sally right now. She was up against three children and a bathtub, while Dr. Finklestein was being held captive by Halloween Town's "beloved" Pumpkin King. So, without anymore delay, Jack took off for the ramshackled tree house.

With quick sprints, Jack approached the rickety, wooden bridge that led to the birdcage elevator within a minute. Examining the wooden planks before him, he sought out what seemed to be the sturdiest places to walk on and carefully took his first step. A few creaks, not a problem… a loud snap, not so good. The splintering of wood broke the silence of the night as when Jack reached out for the cage, the wooden board beneath him broke in half. He reached up to grab anything to save him from falling into the darkness of the gorge, but he was already too far down to be saved.

Not being as deep as he thought, Jack's impact with the ground twenty feet below the bridge was still harsh enough to rattle his bones. As he struggled to regain his composure, a door was suddenly heard sliding open… somewhere close by. The skeleton's eye sockets darted every which way, but he could find no door nor even an ounce of light in the surrounding darkness. Loud thumping footsteps soon followed, footsteps belonging to someone big, but whatever or whoever it was, the darkness shielded them from Jack's view. Whatever or whoever it was, they were inching right towards him.

"Why, Jack," a familiar chuckle emerged from the darkness, "How nice of you to, how shall we say, drop in."

Scrambling to back away, but not knowing where to back away to, Jack was soon enveloped in an incredibly strong bear hug as Oogie carried the skeleton through a hidden doorway which immediately shut behind them.

* * *

Sally and Zero were shielded by the night and the cover of the dead trees as they spied on their targets. The two hadn't had to travel far at all as the children bickered and argued around the collapsed bathtub, struggling to haul the black bag containing the doctor's brain back out onto the dead ground.

"Stupid, weak tub!"

"I'm tired!"

"This is too much work for one brain!"

"Well, then, let's just stab it with a stick and bury it."

"A stick wouldn't be able to pierce through that, stupid!"

"Wait, you two, I have something that just might do the trick," Shock smiled as she removed her witch's hat, her short stringy hair in disarray as she reached into her hat and pulled out a silver metal pole with a fine point on one end. When she placed her hat back onto her head, the once fine point it had come to was now flopped over to the side.

"Cheater! I knew that hat wasn't automatically pointy!"

"Shut up!"

_Oh, no!_ Sally was stricken with horror as she watched Shock bring the pole up, readying to pierce through the large bag into the doctor's hidden brain. The rag doll took a step forward, ready to stop the child from her murderous act when Zero suddenly flew in front of her. She could have easily passed through the ghost dog's small form, but Sally found herself stopping. She was surprised to see Zero shaking his head, telling her in silent words to stay put, but what surprised her more was that the ghost dog looked calm. Did he want the doctor to die? She received her answer very quickly.

"Wait a minute!" Barrel walked straight up to Shock. "Who said you could be the one to stab it?"

"It's my pole!"

"I want to do it!" Lock came up behind the witch and reached for the pole that was still raised above her head.

"Let go!"

Barrel soon joined in and within a matter of seconds, the three children were playing tug-of-war with a pole that could have hurt any of them. Nodding her gratitude to Zero, Sally took this moment to sneak over to the bag lying motionless on the ground just a few feet away. But as she was reaching out to grab it, she realized that everything was silent… dead silent. Looking up, the rag doll saw Lock, Shock, and Barrel frozen in mid-fight, staring at her.

"What do you think you're doing?" Shock was the first to break the silence.

Closing the gap, Sally took firm hold of the tied-up top of the bag, never taking her eyes off of the children. "You kids shouldn't be playing with things that aren't yours."

"Aw, that's no fun."

"Oogie Boogie gave us direct orders."

"And if we don't follow through with those orders…"

As if on cue, the three tricksters shuddered simultaneously as they began to untangle themselves.

"We're gonna get it…"

"So hand it over…"

"And nobody gets hurt."

She shouldn't have been afraid of kids, heck, kids shouldn't be this demonic, but as Lock, Shock, and Barrel began to slowly walk towards her, Sally found herself shaking. If these three worded for Oogie Boogie, she could only imagine the horrible, torturous ideas the Pumpkin King had implanted into their small minds and what they were now capable of doing.

"Hm, looks like we're going to have to wrench it away from her."

"With pleasure…"

Suddenly, Zero's rapid barking broke the eerie silence as the small ghost dog seemed to appear from nowhere and began to fly around and through the kids. Noticing their alarmed faces as they watched Zero come out of their stomachs, Sally took the moment of distraction and readied herself to lift the bag. Holy crap! The kids and the bathtub were not lying when they said it was heavy! Sally felt as if she were hoisting a boulder over her shoulder! She loved how knowledgeable the doctor was, she couldn't lie about that, but when it came to saving his after life, she wished he wasn't so smart. Still, it WAS a matter of afterlife and disappearing forever, so she summoned up her strength and urged her unsteady legs to go as fast as the strain could carry him.

"Hey, she's escaping!"

A worried tone entered Zero's bark as the children began to chase after Sally, warning the rag doll and urging her to go faster, but with the weight of the doctor's brain literally upon her shoulders, she could hardly jog, let alone sprint away from the advancing tricksters. She suddenly found herself going faster as she broke out of the woods and was now descending down a steep, open hill.

"Coming through!"

Sally was knocked off of her feet as Barrel came rolling down the hill, curled in upon himself and taking on the appearance of a white ball. She was unable to keep her hold of the bag as she landed harshly on her back and as she propped herself onto her elbow, her eyes widened in horror as she watched the black bag go rolling down the hill, gaining speed as it neared a long, narrow gorge that stretched out towards the horizon.

"I've got it!"

"Hurry, grab it!"

Lock and Shock went sprinting past Sally, nearly tripping multiple times as they chased after the doctor's brain.

"That… doesn't belong to you!" Sally shouted after the kids as she hoisted herself up from the dead ground and raced after the bag and the children as well.

Already further down the hill, Barrel was the first to leap onto the bag, followed closely behind by Lock and Shock, but instead of stopping the bag with their small bodies, the three tricksters went rolling down the hill along with it.

"How do you stop this thing?"

"I'm gonna throw up!"

"I can't… hold on anymore!" Shock was the first to let go followed by Barrel. Sally had to jump over the children to avoid tripping over them, but her main focus was on that bag. She was getting closer to it with every step, but it, in turn, was getting closer to the dark gorge, threatening to take the doctor's brain and Lock down with it.

"Lock!" Shock and Barrel cried out simultaneously. "Let go!"

She was so close now. Sally reached out, grabbing onto the bag as Lock let go, but it was too late as the child, the rag doll, and the doctor's brain rolled off of the edge of the gorge and disappeared into the darkness of the ever-stretching pit.

"Lock!" Worried for their partner-in-crime, Shock and Barrel quickly, but cautiously, made their way to the bottom of the hill where they found a set of small fingers curled tightly around the gorge edge.

"Pull me up!" Lock shouted. "Pull me up!"

After hoisting Lock back up onto the safety of the dead ground, the three children peered into the darkness of the gorge.

"Remind me again," Shock began slowly, "WHY were we chasing a brain that we were supposed to dispose of… when it was just disposed of?"

Lock and Barrel both opened their mouths, but did not speak. They looked at each other, not having any answer for their cohort and just as confused as her as well.

"Whatever, don't work your brains too hard. The brain is disposed of, a nuisance is gone, and we can tell Oogie Boogie about our job well done."

"I can already taste snake and spider stew for dinner tonight!"

As Lock, Shock, and Barrel high-fived each other, making their way up the hill and soon disappearing back into the dark woods, Zero slowly floated out into the empty field, hovering next to the gorge and staring sadly into its dark depths. What else could he have done to help Sally? He was so small… Jack wasn't going to be happy and the doctor would never come back…

Suddenly, a determined grunt followed by a loud thud made the ghost dog perk his head up. Just a couple of feet away from where he hovered, Zero saw a large black sack with orange pumpkins on it sitting along the edge of the gorge. A large smile crossed his small face as he saw Sally struggling to climb out of the gorge soon after.

Unable to retain his happiness, Zero began to bark. Flying over to the rag doll and encouraging her to keep going.

"Shh! The kids could still hear you," Sally shushed as with one final pull, she was out of the pit and back onto the safety of the dead, yet solid ground. "I'm alright," she reassured Zero as he nudged her left arm which seemed to be loose. "Just a few loose seams, nothing more."

Intertwining her delicate fingers through the black thread, she pulled just enough to secure her arm in place for a couple of hours, at least until she could get back to the lab to fix it. She was just thankful that the thread had hung on as long as it had. The doctor's brain had almost literally tugged her arm out of its socket when she grabbed onto the gorge wall before they were both gone.

"It's a good thing those kids didn't make a thorough search," Sally continued talking to Zero. "I was able to press myself up against the rocks, but if they had looked hard enough, they would have seen me. But that's not important right now. Our next task," she groaned as she gazed up the large hill she had nearly plunged to her death coming down from, "we must get this back up to the top and to Jack as soon as we can."

With that said, Sally took a deep breath before hoisting the bag over her shoulder and slowly ascending up the steep slope, Zero helpfully pushing the bag with his head from behind.


	13. Chapter 12: Frightening Deja Vu

**Author's Note:** Hiya, peoples! Well, hopefully I'm not boring my readers because it seems like less and less people are reading this story. But I will not let that bring me down! My main goal is to finish this story before school starts. And when I say school... I mean COLLEGE! I'm an official high school graduate and my college orientation starts next week! I'm so happy right now, but the feeling really hasn't sunk in yet. I'm sure it will, once it starts to feel a little more like summer. Rainy, cloudy, and 60 degree weather isn't exactly what I'd like to call summer weather. Anyway, I will not bore you with my personal life. I will say, however, that I had a lot of fun writing this chapter and I got it up fairly quickly, if I do say so myself. I will also say that the next few chapters won't be extremely climactic, more like fillers such as the chapters after Jack died, leading up to the final battle. Don't worry, I'll work really hard on that battle and I'll make it perfect. :) I'll let you all know when we get close to the end. I love you all and really appreciate your support on this story. Enjoy Ch. 12!

**Disclaimer:** I still don't own Tim Burton's: The Nightmare Before Christmas... Man... I thought that could be a graduation present... :(

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**Ch. 12 – Frightening Déjà vu**

Jack was surprised that Oogie even knew where he was going in the surrounding darkness as he struggled in vain against the bag of bug's strong grip. For a creature who was rather… large around the middle, Oogie was not someone to mess with… especially by oneself. The skeleton could hear his rib bones cracking from the strong bear hug as the Pumpkin King gave his victim one final squeeze before lifting him into the air.

This was his chance. He had no idea where he would go or where he even was now, but Jack had to take this moment to escape… maybe not. Before the skeleton could act, Oogie clamped large metal chains around his boney wrists, leaving him to dangle in the air above wherever the sack of bugs had taken him.

"Why don't you hang out here for a while?" Oogie's laugh penetrated the darkness, his voice seeming to echo all around Jack.

"Do you have anything better to do with your time then come up with obvious puns?" Jack snapped.

"Such a whiney bag of bones. You have no sense of humor, Jack."

"Oh, if it doesn't involve ruining people's lives, that's not humor?"

"Ah ha, you're catching on!"

"What are you even talking about?"

"I'll let your hollow skull figure that one out, but don't think too hard. I wouldn't want you to miss your surprise."

"No surprise from you will ever be a good one, Oogie."

"Oh, you're too kind."

Oogie's deep, menacing laughter faded into silence, leaving Jack alone in the darkness. It seemed unbearably familiar to the skeleton… like that night… when he had died…

"Welcome, Jack… to hell."

The sudden bright lights that came on temporarily blinded Jack as he narrowed his eye sockets; out of habit, he guessed, for there were no eyeballs in his skull left to shield. Quickly adjusting to the ever-so-welcoming light, he wished the darkness would return to mask the hell he was in now. He was dangling on the edge of what appeared to be a giant game board you would find in a casino, yet Jack couldn't recall them ever having a boiling pit in the middle of them, nor the large sinister looking blades with a large, sloppy eight painted on its base hovering over the bubbling substance either. With wide eye sockets, the skeleton dared to let his gaze roam around what he now officially dubbed a torture chamber. Metal spikes crept up the rock walls, seeming to keep the ground above from caving in on the sack of bug's precious game board, which was lined with pictures of black card symbols and skulls. Chains hung down from the black ceiling, probably holding back Oogie's torture devices, Jack guessed as he noticed the multiple skeletons of past victims who were trapped in this game of death lining the rock walls. Large wheels remained still along the upper rock wall, waiting to be turned to unleash the chains that held Oogie's "fun". But the torture didn't stop at the ceiling, no. A large coffin lay ajar to his right, spikes lingering inside to pierce anyone who dared to enter. To his left, three stationary cowboys held their guns at the ready, slot pictures pasted on their chests, and the word "WIN" in big letters shining above them. And before him, was Oogie Boogie, beaming with an ego even bigger than himself, holding something small and… white… a lifeless lump draped under his arm…

"Dr. Finklestein!" Jack cried. The frail albino doctor appeared even paler than usual, smaller compared to Oogie's immense size, and helpless as his body didn't even twitch, showing no reaction that he had even heard Jack's voice.

"I told you, Jack," Oogie sneered, "You get someone to believe you, they're going to get hurt. It's a shame you got the poor doctor involved, though. I would've preferred not to make him suffer through a second death."

"Keep your filthy hands off him!" Jack hissed through clenched teeth, despising the way Oogie was looking at the doctor. "He's not dead yet! His brain is still…"

"Oogie Boogie! Oogie Boogie!"

Both Jack and the Pumpkin King craned their necks to gaze up as the excited voices of children echoed down a small circular vent that hung down from the ceiling.

"The brain is disposed of!"

"Just like you asked!"

"And the rag doll along with it!"

A knife seemed to dig its way into Jack's empty chest. Sally… gone? He hadn't been there for her… again… and now she was really gone… along with the doctor's brain?  
"Excellent!" Oogie's booming voice brought Jack back to reality. "You three will be rewarded tonight, as soon as I finish up my work down here! You were saying?" The bag of bugs confronted the chained skeleton again as the cackling of Lock, Shock, and Barrel had faded back into silence.

Jack couldn't make eye contact with the Pumpkin King, trying to grasp the fact that, once again, he had failed to protect his friends from this… this monstrosity…

"Aw, what's wrong, Jack?" Oogie's voice was layered with a thick, coating of sarcasm. "Failed to protect your friends, AGAIN? Ha ha! Now that the doctor's brain is gone, I can, how shall we say, properly dispose of the body. No one will ever know the truth about what really happened to him, the rag doll, or the wimpy bag of bones."

"Monster… bag of worthless insects! Lower than…"

"Only words and no action," Oogie held up a clenched hand, silencing Jack's pointless ranting. Then, as that same hand began to shake back and forth, an all-too-familiar clicking sound of two small objects colliding with each other reached the skeleton's ears.

"Remember these, Jackie?" Opening his fist, Oogie revealed a pair of red dice. "These were the same die that determined your fate and they will determine your second fate as well, but unfortunately, you're going to have to wait in line. The doctor has already claimed the first spot available, so you'll be able to experience what I've got cooked up for our little competition… not that there'll be one anymore, ha ha."

Jack suddenly realized that Oogie's game board was a full scale, modified version of what the Pumpkin King had shown the town just a couple months ago. Now that he had seen it in its completed form, it really did resemble the torture chamber the doctor had envisioned it to be.

"Let's play," Oogie tossed the doctor's limp body off to the side of the game board while he threw his dice over to a small table with half of a skeleton sticking out of it. The red die entered each of the stationary skeleton's eyes sockets and exited out of its exposed rib cage, coming to a complete stop along the table's smooth, stone surface.

He had to get to Dr. Finklestein, that was the only thing on Jack's mind as he struggled against the chains that were holding him back. Wriggling and writhing every which way, he began to feel his thin, boney hands beginning to slip out of the shackles, though he didn't check to make sure, for his gaze was rapidly darting back and forth between the doctor and Oogie Boogie.

"Nine. Oh, that's always been by unlucky number," Oogie cringed as he picked up his dice again, "but I'm not the one playing now, am I? Johnny, what do we have in store for this good man?" Waddling to the opposite side of the game board as the doctor, the Pumpkin King approached a small skull outlined into the metal floor and stepped on its right eye. "Say bye-bye, Jack!"

The still wheels began to turn as the chains rustled overhead. Jack frantically looked around, wondering what Oogie had just activated. Sure enough, a large razor sharp wheel with a skeleton forever tied to the middle of its blade came flying down from the ceiling and heading straight for the defenseless doctor. There was no time to waste. Squeezing his fingers together as tightly as he could, Jack slipped out of his bonds. Dropping to the floor, he took quick strides across the game board and dove, grabbing the doctor and rolling out of the way just as the spinning wheel sliced at the ground.

"Always thinking of others before yourself, Jack." Jack quickly glanced up from the ground and noticed that Oogie was gone, hiding within the surrounding shadows. Gently picking up the doctor's frail form, the skeleton held him close, his gaze darting every which way to see what the Pumpkin King had waiting in store for him. "Remember, that's what got you killed the first time. No matter, the doctor's gone anyway. Don't know why you bother protecting a hopeless case. Now, the moment we've all been waiting for! The second fate of Jack Skellington!"

The blood red die came rolling out of the shadows and landed at Jack's feet. It was like déjà vu as two one's stared mockingly up at him.

"Oh, that's unlucky. Getting the same number twice? Luck is definitely not with you, Jackie."

Remembering what had happened that terrible night and expecting what was about to come, Jack quickly dropped to his stomach and plastered himself to the floor as jet streams of fire came shooting out of the blackness, engulfing the air above him in a bright, hot inferno.

As the undying flames ceased to stop, Jack began to crawl, keeping the doctor close as he frantically searched for a way out. He had heard a door open and close when Oogie brought him to this torture chamber, so it had to be there somewhere.

"Oh, Jack," Oogie sang out the skeleton's name, "Where are you hiding?"

"I'll make a deal with you, Oogie!" Jack shouted over the flames as he continued to crawl.

"Oh, this outta be rich. I'm all ears!"

"Don't torture anyone else. No one else believes me about you, nor will they start now. All I'm proposing is that you wait till Halloween. We will carry out the competition as planned and you may do with me what you wish, but ONLY me."

"Hm," Oogie scratched his chin as he pondered over Jack's proposition. "Sounds reasonable, but let's get one thing straight, this competition will be FAR from fair."

The faint sound of an opening door could be heard over the roar of the inferno.

"I wouldn't want it any other way." Jack called out before making his escape, the found door slamming shut behind him.

Chuckling filled the room as Oogie gazed at the closed door, the flames dying till all that remained was the thick smoke that swirled through the air.

"There will be nowhere to run when Halloween comes, Jackie. Nowhere…"

* * *

After stumbling through the darkness of the gorge over rocks and fallen branches from the dead tree overhead, Jack finally found a ramp like path that led up towards the now-brightening sky. Night was fading, yet the rising pumpkin sun cast no warmth and no hope for the new day.

Cackling could still be heard by the three tricksters in the house as Jack stepped from the stone ramp onto dead grass. Didn't those troublemakers ever shut up? But the skeleton didn't pay much attention to them as he slowly walked away from the leaning tree. All he could do was gaze down at the doctor's limp form cradled within his arms and tell himself over and over that he had failed.

"I'm so sorry, doctor," Jack whispered. "I failed to be there for you again… and Sally…"

"I'm coming, Jack!"

Jack perked up as he heard a faint, yet familiar voice coming from beyond the trees. Before long, Sally came into view, panting as she slowly carried the large black bag on her back towards him, Zero helpfully pushing from behind.

"Sally?"

"I'm so sorry I'm late…" Sally gently lowered the bag to the dead ground below. "That was a big hill…"

The rag doll was caught by surprise when Jack engulfed her in a one arm hug, holding her close.

"You're right on time," Jack couldn't help but smile.

Sally was also smiling as she pulled away from the skeleton's unexpected embrace, but her smile quickly disappeared as soon as her eyes rested on the doctor lying limply on Jack's arms.

"How does the brain look?" Jack's happiness turned to urgency as soon as he saw the look on Sally's face.

"I… I don't know. I never thought about looking inside to see how it was."

Together, Sally and Jack approached the bag, untying the rope to open it up. They were met with an awful smell; a fume barrier that prevented them from getting any closer to peer inside, but the smell was enough to tell them that the doctor's brain…

"It's…" Sally's eyes were wide with fear and sadness, "It's rotting away…"

Things weren't looking good, but there was still a chance. A very slim chance, but still a small percentage that the doctor could push through.

"We need to get him to the lab," Jack nodded towards Sally, "now."


	14. Chapter 13: Staying Right Here

**Author's Note:** Hiya, my wonderful readers! I know, I know, I'm not doing a very good job at updating, but you know what I'm going to attempt to do? I'm going to stop being lazy (summer vacation will do that to you) and attempt to update my story every week, maybe even twice a week, until this story's done! I will warn you, the next couple of chapters will be slow, but please don't let that stop you from reading or reviewing my story, for your wonderful comments really help to motivate me. And hey, the big battle's coming up, so get ready for it. :) Now that I've said that, check back here around Friday and I should have the next chapter up. Please enjoy Ch. 13 and Happy Independence Day, America!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Tim Burton's: The Nightmare Before Chirstmas, but hey, a girl can dream, can't she?

* * *

**Ch. 13 – Staying Right Here**

"Heidi! Are you ready to go?" Lindsay Macow called from her posse out into the sea of preteens that was crowding the front of Logandale Middle School; hoping her voice carried over the loud chatter of a thousand voices towards a slender blonde waiting by the front doors about ten feet away.

"Oh… yeah, I'm coming," Heidi Bennet replied subconsciously, slowly making her way over to the group of popular kids as she searched the crowd for a friend.

The last day of school had finally arrived! No more text books, no more homework, no more tests, and no more teachers! Just sun, friends, and unconditional freedom for the next two and a half months! Now, the eighth graders, who were going into high school in the fall, wanted to celebrate their achievement of completing middle school. So, led by Lindsay Macow, the soon-to-be high schoolers were on their way to Dairy Queen to start their summer with something sweet.

"My god, girl, I've been shouting my brains out for, like, five minutes," Lindsay scoffed as Heidi finally joined the group. "Who are you even looking for?"

"I was looking for Mo. Have you guys seen her anywhere?"

"Who? That creepy Shelton girl? Haven't seen her."

"Then can you just wait for five more minutes while I go find her?"

"We've already been waiting around long enough for you," Lindsay rolled her dark brown eyes as she tossed her long, curly black hair over her right shoulder. "Why should we hang around for someone who wasn't even invited to out get together?"

"Because it's common courtesy," Heidi said, a hint of irritation clearly heard in her voice, "and she's an eighth grader, as well, so she SHOULD'VE been invited to this 'get together' along with everyone else in our grade."

"Well…" Lindsay bit her lip as she struggled to think of some excuse as to why she didn't invite the "less popular" kids in the grade, "Dairy Queen only has so much room. There's not nearly enough space for everyone to fit."

"Then we should've found a bigger place to go to."

"Have any place in mind?"

"We could get ice cream and then go to a park or something."

"And stay out in this humidity?" As if on cue, all of the girls' hands in the group shot up to their heads, pinning their fair hair down to their scalps. "Hell, no! We're talking frizz city there! Nuh uh, we're going someplace air conditioned."

Heidi's eyes narrowed as she shook her head. "Do you ever think of anyone besides yourself?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You're being so inconsiderate, Lindsay, THAT'S what I'm saying! You only care about being perfect, being the best, being on top!"

"Hey, hey, hey! That's uncalled for!" Lindsay stepped away from her group till she was inches from Heidi's face. "I do too care about others!"

"Name one."

"Odette, ha!"

Closing her eyes, Heidi let out a long, frustrated sigh. "Cats don't count. I'm talking about an actual HUMAN BEING who actually has FEELINGS!"

"I care about my friends!"

"Oh, yeah? For how long? You 'care' about them, but if they decide to hang out with someone less popular or they do something you don't like, you dump them! Dump them like a sack of hammers!"

"I do not! I still hang out with you, don't I?"

Heidi was speechless as her jaw dropped. THAT was a low blow and she knew that blow was directed at Monique. Enraged by the smug look on Lindsay's face and her cold heart, Heidi exploded.

"Who the HELL do you think you are talking about others like that?" Heidi inched closer and closer to Lindsay who, in turn, began to inch backwards; the group of kids that had been behind her now a few feet away so as to stay out of the line of fire. "Just because someone may dress weird or think differently than you does not give you ANY right to criticize them! You have no idea the hell that Monique Shelton has been through over the last eight months! No freakin' idea!

"Yes, she likes creepy stuff. Know why? Because her older brother loved that stuff. No, she doesn't go out much. Why's that? Because she loved her older brother so much that she would've rather hung out with him than anyone in school. And yes, she keeps to herself. Why? Because her brother died eight months ago."

Heidi paused, breathing through clenched teeth as she let that sink into the pale faces of the group of kids around her and the near-to-tears Lindsay before her. After a moment of dead silence, she continued.

"Right now, she's writing a story for her dead brother, Jack," Heidi lowered her voice, clenching her fists tightly so as to try to stop them from shaking. "A story about the two of them and the bond they shared when he was alive and she's going to share it with her family on Halloween, the day her brother was murdered. I would invite you guys to come and listen," she made eye contact with every preteen there, "but seeing as you don't have the hearts to care about anyone but yourselves, I wouldn't want Mo to get hurt. I'm going to go and listen to it, though, and honestly… I can't wait to hear it."

With one last glare, Heidi turned on her heel and stormed off, leaving the group of popular preteens gaping after her.

A vast majority of the middle schoolers had left the grounds, so it didn't take long for Heidi to find Monique sitting on a bench resting along the side of the school building. She was leaning against the school's brick wall, her feet resting on the seat of the wooden bench, her knees up by her chest as she used them as a desk. Her eyes moved across the pages, her long, black hair falling into her journal as she seemed very intent on her writing.

"I finally managed to find you."

Startled, Monique instinctively slammed her book shut, not wanting anyone to read its contents, but accidentally clamping the journal shut upon her right index finger.

"Ow! Hiya," Monique cast a painful smile towards her friend as she stuck her finger into her mouth.

"Get another idea for your story?" Heidi smiled as she sat down beside her friend.

"Yeah, sort of," Monique stammered. She hated lying to her best friend, but what could she say? Heidi had begun to ask too many questions about what she was writing all the time and had even asked her parents about it! She had to think of something and the first thing that came to mind was that she was writing a story about her and Jack. The lie had worked, but it had worked a little too well. Her parents were so intrigued by the idea that they wanted her to share the story with them, but she did manage to buy some time by saying she'd read it aloud on Halloween. Man, who would've thought death could be so stressful? "It's a work in progress, you know?"

"Of course."

"So, I thought you were going with Lindsay somewhere."

Heidi's beautiful smile quickly vanished as a scowl took its place. "Who? That cold-hearted drama queen? I don't want to waste my time with her anymore."

Monique shifted uncomfortably, practically seeing the anger and hatred that surrounded her friend at the moment. "What happened?" She asked hesitantly.

"Just following your example of what you did to Chris, but leaving out the physicality, and you know what?" Heidi's smile returned brighter than ever as her hazel eyes met Monique's sapphire ones, "It felt fantastic."

After that, Heidi hoisted herself onto her feet and began to walk. Curiously staring after her beaming friend, Monique couldn't help but smile as well as she crammed her journal into her backpack and took off after her best friend, both on their way to who knows where.

* * *

"And… done," Jack announced as he screwed in the last bolt that held the new, wider doorway that led into the doctor's lab, in place. Stepping back to admire his work, he lightly touched a small panel resting on the wall beside the entryway. Slowly, a set of heavy metal doors slid from either end of the doorway and met in the middle. After testing the sturdiness of the door, satisfied when they wouldn't budge no matter how much force he inflicted upon them, Jack touched the panel again, walking into the lab with a smile on his face as soon as the doors had opened up again. No more having to worry about flimsy hinges anymore.

Along with the newly finished doors, the lab was all fixed up. Every test tube and chemical mixture was back in its place, machines were repaired and operating to the best of their abilities, and everything was functioning beautifully. Everything… except for one creature. The doctor lay on the operating table Sally was on when she had been created, remaining in his unconscious state, even though his overly-large brain was back in his head.

Due to the rough handling, the once healthy, light pink brain had begun to dull to a yellowish brown color as it slowly rotted away. Jack and Sally were no scientists, but they did what they could, connecting multiple wires to his brain to try and get the juice pumping through it again, and could only pray that the doctor might wake up someday.

But two months had passed since then… so that "might" wasn't looking too good. And during those months, Jack had helped to restore the wrecked lab back to its former glory, taking few breaks and NEVER leaving the doctor's side, not wanting to leave him alone with Oogie still roaming freely out there.

The only problem with helping so much was that Jack's planning for the quickly approaching Halloween was going unattended. His only problem… was that he had thought of absolutely nothing to challenge Oogie's torture casino and time was running out.

Taking a break from a job well done, Jack pulled up a chair to take a seat beside the still doctor. Every day, he had taken time to talk to Dr. Finklestein, telling him stories of anything that came to the skeleton's mind, hoping that maybe just hearing someone's voice would be enough to bring him back.

"You're never one to take time on something, doctor, but you sure are taking your sweet time on waking up," Jack chuckled, resting his elbows on his knees as he thrummed his fingers together. "Well, you'd better hurry, because I'm running out of stories to tell. Let's see… what should we talk about today? Did I ever tell you the story of when I took Momo… my sister, to see her first scary movie? That memory has always been a favorite of mine.

"It was her eleventh birthday. I couldn't believe my baby sister was becoming a preteen, but thankfully, she hadn't turned into her friends; wanting her own cell phone, chatting and spending countless hours on Facebook, gossiping about people and flirting with boys, no. Instead, she always wanted to be with me. But anyway, what she really wanted for her birthday was to see her first scary movie with me. My mom and dad wouldn't let her, so after dinner, as our parents cleaned up the remains of cake and ice cream, we snuck out of Momo's bedroom window and took a cab to the theater.

"We saw The Ring that night. Personally, I didn't find it scary at all, but my little sister was horrified. About three quarters of the way through it, I had to literally carry her out of the theater because she was too afraid to even move. I hailed another cab, got quite an earful from my parents when we got home, then I put Momo to bed. She asked me to keep the light on, so I did, but since she was still my baby sister in my eyes, I stretched out on her bed beside her, keeping her close until she fell asleep. Even when she did manage to fall asleep, I stayed there with her throughout the entire night… and every night after that for the next week, for that matter. But you know what? I didn't mind… not in the least.

"Now, two years later, she can't seem to get enough of those movies. Every time a new horror movie comes to the theaters, she HAS to go see it. And yet, even though she watches the most graphic and frightening movies you could possibly imagine, she refuses to watch The Ring again. I would tease her about it and she would get so scared, just like the night I first took her to see it. I never really could let her live it down…"

Jack trailed off, his words fading into silence as the memory opened the doors to more memories, bringing back a pain in his empty chest that he hadn't felt for a long time.

"Your sister sounds like a great girl." Jack glanced up and saw Sally walking into the lab, a large bowl of green soup resting in her hands. "Sorry, I shouldn't have been eavesdropping, but I love listening to your stories. She sounds a lot like you. Lunch?"

"Oh, no, it's fine, don't worry about it… and no thank you," Jack gestured towards the unappetizing green liquid. "She used to be a lot like me, but I can't say that now because I don't know if she's changed over the past eight months. God, I hope she's not suffering from depression. She was so upset when I saw her in the hospital."

Setting the untouched soup down on a nearby table, Sally knelt down on the floor before Jack, her gentle black eyes locking with his empty sockets. "Why not check up on her?"

"Oh, believe me, there's nothing in the world I'd rather do, but… I can't. I promised myself I wouldn't ask the fountain for anything like that ever again. It was too hard to see the people I love and not be able to touch them, to hold them and tell them that I was okay… in a matter of speaking. But I'll be able to see them soon, come Halloween… which is rapidly approaching."

"150 days," Sally chimed in.

"Thanks for reminding me," Jack groaned, holding his head within his boney hands.

Feeling bad about reminding Jack of his deadline, Sally reached out and took hold of one of the skeleton's hands, cradling it within her delicate grasp. "Do you want to go for a walk? Get out of this cramped up laboratory and stretch out your bones?"

"Don't you remember what happened the last time I went out for a walk and left you two alone?"

Sally opened her mouth, but couldn't say anything, nodding slowly as she glanced at the doctor's small, unconscious form.

"I refuse to leave you alone again," Jack continued. "You two are my responsibility."

"Jack, I'm not trying to make you go outside, but you need to get out of here, even if just for an hour. You made a deal with Oogie…"

"But who knows if he'll keep his word," Jack could feel the irritation welling up inside him at the mention of HIS name, bet he had to control himself. The last thing he wanted to do was snap at someone, especially Sally. Sighing his frustration away, the skeleton continued. "Sally, you've known that back of bugs as long as I have and of what we both have witnessed, is that he CANNOT be trusted."

Sally unleashed an equally frustrated sigh as she released Jack's hand. "I remember… the doctor once told me that even though Oogie is beyond unfair, he's too dignified to ever break a deal. Trust me. If not me, trust him," she nodded towards the doctor, "that our present Pumpkin King will not go back on his word."

The word "present" really stood out to Jack as a small smile danced slowly across his face. "Do you really have that much faith in me?"

Sally shrugged her shoulders, "I've known that sack of bugs as long as you have, but I'd rather not see him around here anymore. I have faith that you'll be able to expose him to Halloween Town and be the one to dethrone him."

His spirits greatly restored, Jack stood up from his seat beside the doctor, took a hold of Sally's hands, and guided her back up onto her feet. "Thank you, Sally. I'll do my best not to let you… or the doctor down, but for right now, I'm staying right here."

* * *

The large full moon cast a pale light upon Halloween Town. The atmosphere was silent, peaceful as the town's citizens slept soundly in the darkness the night had brought. But one skeleton was restless and remained awake, even though his exhausted body was begging him to lie down.

After struggling for the better part of the evening, Jack had finally managed to push the large, black desk the doctor had given him up the long ramp into the lab. Forcing it up against the only empty wall in the cluttered room, the skeleton had taken up residence in a large, somewhat comfy chair and was now leaning heavily upon his right elbow, his boney hand the only thing keeping his head up. Before him, upon the wide surface area of the desk, lay a blank piece of paper… the same piece of paper that had been sitting there for the past two months.

Four months. He had a mere four months to come up with an idea that would blow Oogie's torture casino out of the water. Of course he knew the competition would be unfair, but losing was not an option. He HAD to win… he had no idea how he was going to do it, but he just had to; if anything, for the safety of the citizens.

Unleashing a tired sigh, Jack's eyes wondered over to a black basket sitting upon his desk, the basket of toys that the children had given him. Not knowing what else to do at the moment, he decided to have another look at them, carefully taking out the guillotine first before emptying the rest of the toys out onto the desk's surface.

The gargoyle, fish, voo doo doll, cat, and snake were all there, just as he had remembered, yet there was one toy amongst them he hadn't seen before. A thin gray wheel about as round as one of Jack's eye sockets lay flat on its side next to the bone fish. Picking it up, he noticed it almost looked like a crossover between a 21st century car tire and a first century Roman chariot wheel.

"Hm, must have been hiding at the bottom," Jack smiled as he stood the wheel upright upon the flat surface and, using his index finger, began to roll it back and forth. His eyelids had begun to sink lower towards his cheek bones until suddenly, fangs sprouted out of the center of the wheel. The toy began to growl and jumped up, trying to bite his finger.

"Whoa!" Startled, Jack let the wheel fall back onto its side as he pushed himself away from the desk. Checking his finger and not finding a scratch on his bone, he hesitantly moved back over to the desktop. The wheel was just a wheel again, no fangs and no growling.

"Is my mind playing tricks on me?" Jack scratched his skull. He didn't want to pick up the wheel again, so he settled on the blue gargoyle. Holding the small toy between his long fingers, he stared at it, cautiously waiting to see if something would happen. Sure enough, the gargoyle's eyes began to glow red. It hissed up at Jack, bearing its fangs as it stood up in the skeleton's now open palm, its wings stretching out ready for flight.

Jack didn't drop this toy like he had the wheel, but he did quickly lower it down to the desk before it could take off. Again, as soon as the toy hit the table and he released his grip on it, it was just a toy again.

"Huh, clever," Jack smiled, crossing his right arm across his stomach as he rested his left elbow on top of it and leaned upon his hand. "Toys of illusion." He froze, his eye sockets widening as a thought suddenly struck his skull. "Illusions…" Not wasting any time, he swiped the toys scattered across the desk off to the side with his arm and reached for his pen. He blew the dust off of the paper that had accumulated over the last few months and began to plan his Halloween.


	15. Chapter 14: Growing Chance

**Author's Note: **Hiya, peoples! Alright, I think I'm liking this deadline thing. By giving myself a deadline, I'm actually not being quite so lazy and actually getting the chapters done, although this is a fairly short chapter. So, from now until the end of this book, I will be telling all of you wonderful readers and reviewers out there when the next chapter will be up! Exciting, I know! You won't have to wait that much longer for these chapters anymore. Plus, if I start doing this, then maybe I'll get into a habit and I'll start writing more. Anyway, as I said, this chapter is fairly short, but my next chapter will be much longer, I promise. And, speaking of deadlines also, chapter 15 will be up next Wednesday(14) or Thursday(15). Check back then and I assure you, it will be up. I would also like to thank you all again because my story has now recieved it's **100th review**! I know there are stories on this site that have like 500 reviews or even 1,000, but I've never had a story this popular! And it's all thanks to you, my wonderful readers! Thank you, thank you, thank you so much! And don't worry, I will recognize each and every one of you on my very last chapter, so look for your name then. :) Anyway, enjoy chapter 14 and I will talk to you again next week! :)

**Disclaimer: **Thank you, Mr. Tim Burton! Although I do not own your original Nightmare Before Christmas masterpiece, my idea would've never come together if I hadn't watched your movie. Thank you!

* * *

**Ch. 14 – Growing Chance**

One dusty piece of paper quickly turned to two, then four, until finally, as fall crept closer still, there were multiple sheets of paper flooding Jack's desk, all containing notes and rough sketches of his competing Halloween creation.

Summer had flown by, but Jack hadn't wasted a second of it. Every day, he went over his designs, correcting flaws and adding new features until, come mid-August, the skeleton was sure he had nearly reached perfection. He couldn't accept anything less, for the odds in the competition were already stacked high against him. Yet, one sunny day, Jack found himself carefully inspecting his final sketch.

"It's as perfect as I can make it," Jack unleashed a frustrated sigh as he rested his forehead against his left fist, "yet here I am searching for flaws that probably aren't even there. What if I took that piece out? No, then that part wouldn't work properly. Perhaps if I tightened… No, then the whole thing would explode. Hmm… Is that even…"

A soft groaning was suddenly heard in the room, causing Jack to freeze. His eye sockets widened as he stopped mid-sentence, realizing the source of the groan had come from behind him. But… nobody was there… except for…

Quickly spinning 180 degrees in his desk chair, Jack turned away from his Halloween plans and stared at the operating table next to the doorway leading into the lab. The small, albino figure that had been lying motionless upon the metal bed was now slowly moving himself up into a sitting position.

"Doctor…" Jack whispered in disbelief, not knowing what to do.

"What… What are all these infernal contraptions doing in my brain?" Dr. Finklestein complained as he wrapped his small fingers around the wires that were connected to his head and began plucking them out one by one.

"Uh… Careful, doctor," Jack had to physically shake his head to get over his shock before he quickly made his way to the doctor and began to delicately remove the remaining wires. "These have been keeping your brain alive."

"What are you talking about, my boy? My brain is fine," the doctor lifted the top of his head. To Jack's relief, the large brain within had resumed its light pink color and was moist once again. "See?"

Once the final wire was removed, Jack couldn't contain himself any longer as he wrapped his long arms around the frail doctor's small body.

"Whoa, Jack, this isn't like you."

"Sorry," Jack smiled as he pulled away, "I'm just glad you're back, doctor."

"Back?" Dr. Finklestein's eyebrows furrowed as he glanced around his lab. "Where have I been?"

"You were unconscious for close to five months."

"What?"

"Your brain was on the verge of dying. That's why all those wires were connected to your head. Don't you remember anything that happened?"

"I…" Dr. Finklestein stroked his chin, not wanting to touch his brain after hearing that it had nearly gave out on him, "I can't say I do. Remind me, my boy. Although I have a feeling this has Oogie's name written all over it, tell me what happened."

"I will, but hold on just a moment," Jack turned to leave the lab, but stopped before he could and changed course till he reached a large metal storage cabinet. "Oh, and one more thing," Opening the cabinet, the skeleton revealed a small, banged-up, black wheelchair. "It looked worse before, but I managed to get it working again and I promise, it won't fall apart on you." Wheeling it over to the operating table, Jack then picked up the small doctor and placed him into his rightful seat.

"I don't like to be belittled, Jack. You should know by now that I can take care of myself."

Jack couldn't help but smile as the doctor immediately began to wheel around his lab. He was back to normal again. "Of course, doctor. I'll be right back." As he left the lab, the skeleton could hear the doctor's voice echo off of the metallic walls surrounding him.

"What happened to my lab? That wasn't there before. And what the heck is that thing?"

Nearly sprinting down the short hallway, Jack quickly found himself in front of the room he wanted to go to and, after peering inside, found the person he had been searching for.

"Sally."

Sitting at a small sewing machine, Sally quickly turned around to face Jack, an article of black clothing resting in her lap. "Jack? What's wrong?"

"Not what's wrong, what's right," Jack smiled as he walked in, took the material out of Sally's lap, and placed it on her sewing table. He then took her hands within his and pulled her out of her seat. "The doctor's awake."

Sally's eyes shone as a broad smile danced across her face. "Really?"

Not even needing an answer, both Jack and Sally took off for the doctor's lab and found him in his wheelchair, frowning at a small plastic box that was sitting in his lap.

"Dr. Finklestein!" Sally rushed over to her creator and embraced him as Jack had.

"Oh, goodness. Hello, my dear," the doctor patted Sally's arm as the mysterious box fell onto the floor. That hadn't been in his lab before, but he would have to find out what it was later. Now was the time to hear about what had happened while he was out.

Jack and Sally took a seat on the doctor's operating table as Dr. Finklestein wheeled up to sit before them. Sally decided to start, telling him about how Oogie had snuck into the lab and had thrown him against the wall.

"Yes, yes, I remember that now," the doctor nodded, still stroking his chin, "but that's as far back as my memory will go. What happened after that?"

Jack was the next to speak, and as both he and Sally took turns sharing their stories, the doctor's face seemed to change.

"I… can't believe it," Dr. Finklestein said in disbelief once Jack and Sally had finished. "Oogie really tried to kill me?"

"And almost succeeded," Jack sighed as he cast his gaze towards the floor. "I'm so sorry, doctor."

"Sorry? My boy, you two put yourselves in harm's way just to save me. Thank you. And, although working on my brain took longer than something I would've been able to do, you two did a good job."

Jack and Sally smiled at the praise.

"But you're going to have an immensity of hell coming your way, Jack," the doctor continued in a more somber tone. "After everything that's happened. And you don't even have an idea yet…"

"Actually, doctor, I do," Jack got up from the operating table and made his way over to his desk. Gather his cluttered papers scattered all over his desktop into one neat pile, he then brought the stack over to Dr. Finklestein. "I've been working on this nonstop for about two months."

The doctor took the stack within his small hands and, after adjusting his black spectacles, he began to read silently. With every turn of a page, his face quickly changed from interested to complete shock. "My, my, Jack," the doctor smiled as he glanced up at the skeleton, "You've really outdone yourself."

"It's not put together yet, though. I didn't really know how to go about building it, but I was hoping you could maybe help me assemble it."

"Of course, my boy. This contraption seems simple enough to make."

As Jack and Dr. Finklestein chattered excitedly about what they could do, Sally delicately took the top paper out of the stack in the doctor's hands and looked it over. Jack had just been so busy that she didn't want to disturb him and now she was curious as to what he had been working on.

"What does it do, Jack?" Sally asked, looking at the scribbled sketch.

Looking away from the doctor, Jack walked over to Sally and draped his arm across her shoulders. "That, Sally, is a device that will be small enough to carry in the palm of my hand and truly terrify people at the same time."

"How, though?"

"Illusions," Jack took the sketch from Sally and held it up in the air, admiring his masterpiece. "This little guy can take something as common as a lamppost or even a doorstep and turn it into something horrifying, but it's all in the mind. The images will seem real and they will frighten the living, but everything they see is harmless. Unlike Oogie's monstrosity, no one will get hurt."

The doctor couldn't stop shaking his head, a smile still pasted on his white face. "No matter how much I think about your idea, it's just brilliant. Simply brilliant. You're starting to think like a true Pumpkin King now, Jack."

If there was a heart beating within Jack's empty chest at that moment, it would've felt as light as a feather. At that moment, even though it wasn't built yet, Jack knew his device would create wonders. At that moment, Jack believed he had a chance.

Sally was blushing slightly, Jack's arm still draped around her small shoulders. "Could… I help, Jack?"

"Of course, the more help the better. So we'd better get started as soon as possible."

"We'll be able to get it done in time, don't worry," Dr. Finklestein held up a hand, trying to slow down the skeleton's excitement, but knowing he wouldn't be able to succeed, "but, Jack… with this… I do believe you have a chance."


	16. Chapter 15: All Come Together

**Author's Note: **Hiya, peoples! Okay, now I'm REALLY starting to like this deadline things, although this one I almost didn't get up in time. Anyway, I know the last chapter was fairly short (the shortest chapter I have next to the prologue, actually), but I have made up for it in this chapter. We catch up with a few different groups in this one and you get to see a side of the doctor that not many people knew even existed. I'm also going to start counting down to the big battle between Oogie and Jack, since everyone seems very eager for that, so you all know when to expect it. Thank you so much, my wonderful readers, for your inspiring reviews. You have no idea how much just one review can brighten my day, and when I wake up in the morning and I see 3? Woo, I'm walking on air! Thank you so very much and bear with me just a little longer, I'm almost done with this story! Please enjoy chapter 15 and check back here on either Sunday (18) or Monday (19) for chapter 16. I'm going to try to bring these update dates closer together.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Tim Burton's: The Nightmare Before Chirstmas, but I did just recently beat the playstation 2 game. So much fun! Oh, my gosh! :)

**Big Battle Countdown: **4 more chapters!

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**Ch. 15 – All Coming Together**

_**October 24**__**th**__** (the week before Halloween)**_

Summer had officially changed to autumn, the unpredictable, humid in-between season weather now taken over by the chilling hands of fall. Green was scarce as the dying trees were covered in red and orange leaves that were quickly dying as well, drifting down when they couldn't cling to their home anymore.

Of course, not ever place on this planet is able to witness the dying beauty of the land as the icy grasp of winter was nearing closer and closer, but in Indiana, serene death was everywhere you looked.

One of the state's northwestern towns, Portage, was dealing with a rather windy day. The people residing there didn't dare to stay out too long, quickly seeking warmth and shelter within the nearest building as the wind was strong and unforgiving, creeping upon exposed skin and chilling right to the bone.

The Portage Public Library was a popular place of refuge that day, its large brick structure standing strong and offering protection to the inhabitants within. The heat inside the building was a comfortable seventy-three degrees, perfect for someone to grab one of the library's many thousands of books, take up residence within one of the cushioned chairs, and read for a few hours.

As a family with three small, cold children entered the silent library, two young men followed shortly behind, seeking warmth… and a friend.

Sam and Adin hadn't seen Coleen since the tragic passing of their dear friend, Jack. It's not like they were trying to avoid her, she just sort of disappeared, giving the impression that she didn't want to talk to anyone. Now, as close as it was to Halloween and showing courtesy to their dead brother, the two more-serious tricksters were determined to find the one whom Jack had given his heart to and spend this harsh time together with her. It didn't take long either as they found the small, fragile-looking orange haired maiden silently stacking books in the adult nonfiction section, oblivious to their presence.

"Hey, Adin," Sam spoke rather loudly, clearing his throat, "Who's that foxy lady over there?"

"I don't know, Sam," Adin chimed in, playfully stroking his chin, "but she looks strangely familiar."

Stopping her duties, Coleen turned to face the two rabble rousers. She brought her long, delicate finger to her lips, signaling for the boys to keep their voices down, though her cheeks twitched with an unshed smile.

"It's Coleen Jones," Sam announced in a whisper as he walked over to the librarian, wrapping his arms around her waist as he picked her up into his embrace. "My, god, girl, you're as light as a feather."

"My turn." Coleen's feet had barely touched the ground when she was lifted into the air again by Adin. "Wow, you are light."

"What? You didn't believe me?"

"You guys haven't changed one bit," Coleen giggled as her feet finally made it back to the carpeted floor. "How have you two been?"

"Missing you."

"Have you been eating? You seem a lot… tinier since the last time we saw you."

"I am now," Coleen sighed. "I've recently been seeing a therapist." The two men grew silent as she continued on. "It was just, becoming too hard to handle things, you know?"

Nodding, Adin locked his green eyes with her pale ones. "How long?"

"About three months."

As if he were in a classroom, Sam raised his hand. "Seven months."

"Seven?" Coleen could barely even whisper. Her eyebrows furrowed as she suddenly found it harder to swallow.

"I was traumatized after what happened. Sure, I wasn't entirely conscious to see what happened, but I was still there. I heard him defending us, I heard him scream. And then, when I woke up, I saw Adin's body… and I realized just how bad everything really was."

"I started going with him almost six months ago," Adin sighed, his Adam's apple bobbing uncontrollably, "Fifty-two stitches total on my entire body, but, if it hadn't been for Jack… I wouldn't have even made it to the hospital alive. I was seriously beginning to consider killing myself, believing I was the reason he died, but Sam had felt the same way. Now, we are both on the road to recovery… well, at least getting there, you know?"

"I guess… we all have that in common, then," Coleen blinked quickly, trying to keep her tears locked away inside. She wasn't going to break down, not in front of all these people. She had never really liked Jack's friends. She had always seen them as goofballs who couldn't take anything seriously… Jack's partners-in-crime… idiots. And yet, due to the unexpected and unfortunate circumstances, as she took turns glancing from Sam to Adin, her feelings towards them began to change. If they were all to reach the end of the long road to recovery, they would have to travel it together.

"So…" Adin clapped his hands together, clearing his throat as he changed the subject, "we wanted to run an idea by you."

Saw was the next to speak. The three musketeers usually had their own special way of finished each other's sentences. "How would you feel about traveling up to the Shelton's place the day before Halloween? The way, we're all together and nobody has to be alone."

"On top of that, we heard from a little bird that Monster's cooking up a little something in memory of Jack."

"That's sweet. What is she planning to do?"

"I don't know. Her Facebook profile page wouldn't show anything else."

"It's a secret. Shh!"

Coleen couldn't help but laugh as her eyes wandered over to the clock hanging on the wall above the library elevator. "All right, I'm off in an hour, we can talk more then. Do you think you can keep yourselves occupied without vandalizing anything?"

"Ooh…" Adin pretended to bite his nails, "that's a tall order to fill, but…"

"We think we can manage."

"Good. You can bunk at my place until Halloween, then, unless you need to…"

"Already packed. It's waiting in our truck."

"I should've known," Coleen shook her head as she returned to stacking the books waiting on the cart beside her. A smile danced across her face as she heard Sam and Adin's whispers as they walked away.

"Will you read me Green Eggs and Ham, Sam? I'm not sure I can sit still for too long unless you do."

"Only if you read The Little Engine That Could to me. That'll give me the motivation to be good for an hour."

"Oh, such an inspirational book. Okay, let's do it."

* * *

_**October 27**__**th**__** (4 days until Halloween)**_

Other than the typical wailing sirens, blaring horns, and screeching tires, the suburbs of Chicago were actually fairly peaceful. Just outside the hustle and bustle of the overcrowded city, along South Prairie Avenue, Monique Shelton sought secrecy within her bedroom. Leaning against the many pillows that covered her bed, the young teenager crossed out captions she had written in her little black book of death.

The small purple cell phone resting at her side began to vibrate, its bright screen caption reading Heidi Bennet.

"Hey, Heidi," Monique answered, locking the phone between her left ear and shoulder as she continued her work. "What's up, other than the ceiling?"

"Well, you forgot to mention the sky, but we'll get into that later," Heidi's cheerful voice came out through the small, yet clear speaker, "but I wanted to ask you if you'd like to come with me and my family to see a movie tonight. We're going to see Janghwa Hongreyeon: A Tale of Two Sisters. Basically a horror film about a completely deranged family. It's the perfect tone to set for Halloween and I know it would be right up your ally. So, you wanna come?"

Monique had seen previews and she really did badly want to see it, but… "I'm sorry, I can't make it. I'm working on my Halloween project right now and I really need to finish wrapping it up in the next four days."

"Please? The movie's maybe two hours. Can't you just take a small break and come back to it later?"

"I can't, Heidi. I just can't."

Silence met her on the other line, though Monique knew Heidi hadn't hung up on her, for the dial tone had not gone off yet. Then, after maybe a minute, her blonde friend broke the silence. "Uh, Mo? Can I say something?"

"What?"

"I've gotta say… you've really changed this school year. And I'm sorry to say, but it's for the worst."

"Excuse me?" Irritation could clearly be heard in Monique's voice. How could her best friend say that about her?

"Your grades have been free falling, you don't try anymore, you're distancing yourself away from me, and you're always irritated at something."

"Well, I get irritated when someone lectures to me about what's wrong with me!"

"Well, I'm sorry, but someone had to say it if your family hasn't," Heidi didn't sound angry, she didn't sound mad… she sounded hurt. She hated telling someone what was wrong with them so bluntly and it seemed she was doing everything within her power not to break down into tears.

"This conversation is over," Monique ended flatly.

"Please, let me hel…" The single push of a button disconnected the call as Monique threw her cell phone towards the end of her bed where she could barely see it. What Heidi didn't know was that through the irritation, she, too, was on the verge of tears.

She didn't want to snap at her best friend, but maybe… it was for the better. She didn't try her best in school anymore because she wasn't going to be around to do her work for much longer. When her teachers had called her parents to tell them of her poor performance, she had lied and said she was going through a "Jack" phase, seeing as how Halloween was getting closer. The lie had worked like a charm, though she wasn't proud of what she had done. As for Heidi…

_It'll be easier for you to forget about me if you hate me_, Monique thought sadly as a single tear rolled down her cheek. _I'm still me… just not around others. _

Clearing her throat as she blinked back the pools of unshed tears in her eyes, Monique tried to bring her thoughts back to the task at hand. "I can't think about that right now. I'm really pressed for time." She glanced over at the far wall where her countdown, now reduced to a single sheet of paper, hung. "I have four days to decide. Ah, this is so hard. How do I want to die?"

* * *

Another silent night in Halloween Town, the darkness only illuminated by the light of the full moon. Creatures and corpses alike all slept peacefully in their beds and graves. Even Dr. Finklestein's lab was quiet, after their being nonstop work within it for the last month or so.

All the machines in the lab had been shut down for the night, resting from their exhaustive overuse. Upon a desk lay the finished project of Jack's creation. Its metal appearance looked like one of those fancy, old-fashioned projectors shrunk down to handheld 21st century video camera size. And sleeping next to the machine, was Jack; his arms crossed over the surface of his desk as he rested his skull within the nook of his left elbow.

A small light soon penetrated the darkness as Dr. Finklestein wheeled into his lab, a small lantern held firmly within his grasp. Making his way over to the desk, he set the lantern down upon its surface and placed a gentle hand on the skeleton's back.

"Jack?" He whispered as he shook the sleeping skeleton. "Jack, you don't have to sleep out here."

Slowly opening his eyelids, Jack yawned, carefully stretching out his stiff bones. "Oh, doctor. "What time is it?"

"Late, or early. Whichever one suits you. Jack, nobody is going to take this. Why not try sleeping in a bed for a change? You'll feel a lot better when you wake up."

Jack grunted as he sat up in his chair, resting against its back as he faced the doctor. "I'm not afraid of anyone taking it. I just want to be prepared in case we get another 'visitor'. I can't be prepared to protect you two if I'm lying in bed."

The doctor sighed as he leaned back against his own chair. "You told me so many stories when I was out. Now, my boy, it's time I told you one… of how I ended up in this chair."

Jack's eye sockets were wide open now. The doctor hadn't told him a story of when he was alive for almost a year.

"As you know," Dr. Finklestein began, "I'm not very dependent on others. I like to do things and take care of myself and I was once able to do that outside of this infernal contraption," he gestured to his wheelchair. "My nonworking legs are the reason I couldn't save my kids that one Halloween. They're also the reason why I couldn't save my wife."

"You're wife?" Jack perked up. Dr. Finklestein had only briefly mentioned his wife, and that was only to say that she had died.

"Her name was Jade. Jade Lennox. Feistiest little thing you ever saw. Also the most beautiful.

"I worked for Liquidmetal ® Technologies, studying and researching amorphous metals. It wasn't your typical lab, though. There were a lot of hands-on experiments that required both physical and mental strengths, so I was always moving. But I won't bore you with my job life. I'll skip ahead a few years.

"I had been at the company for a good twelve years. Bert Tobey, my best friend and boss, was getting married and he asked me to be his best man.

"Then, at the wedding, which was beautiful, by the way, as we waited for his bride to come walking down the aisle, one of the bridesmaids caught my eye. Small, graceful, short chestnut hair that tickled the bottom of her ears, one of those cute button noses, and golden eyes. Her eyes were what captured me; gold like the morning and the evening sun, gold like the leaves during my favorite season, gold like the ring that would soon be on her left hand. It never occurred to me why her name was Jade, but I was so in love that I didn't care."

Jack couldn't help but smile as the doctor spoke in a way that he had never heard before. Who would've thought this mad scientist could be so poetic.

"After the ceremony, instead of going with her escort, she skipped over to me and slung her arm around mine. 'Jade Lennox', she said, smiling up at me. Those two words were all it took for me to know that she would be mine forever.

"We were married not even a year later and then had our son, David. Seventeen years after that, we had our daughter, Pearl.

"When Pearl turned two, Jade and I decided to go on a little vacation. Promising my nineteen year old son that I would buy him a car if he watched his baby sister while we were gone, my wife and I went to Seven Springs, a ski resort in Pittsburgh. Now, I had never been skiing before, but Jade couldn't seem to get enough of it. She had the cutest laugh which I heard plenty of whenever I wiped out, but it was also one of those laughs that, whenever you heard it, you just had to laugh too.

"The day before we planned to go home, Jade woke me up at around 4:30 in the morning and took me to one of the bigger hills for the more experienced skiers. She wanted to get there before it became too crowded so that she could take me down the slope so I could witness what it was like for her when she skied… We never got the chance."

Jack was surprised to see the doctor almost on the verge of tears. He didn't even come close to crying when he talked about his kids and of his own death. "What happened, doctor?"

"An avalanche, my boy," Dr. Finklestein swallowed hard as he unleashed a long, sad sigh. "The ground began to shake and, in the blink of an eye, we were buried in snow. We didn't even see it coming.

"I lost consciousness for a moment, but even when I managed to come to, it was hard for me to even keep my eyes open. It was so cold and it was becoming harder to breathe. Trying to stay focused, I searched… for…" It was then that a single tear rolled slowly down the doctor's cheek. Quickly wiping it away, he continued. "I glanced to my right and found her left arm, sticking out of a snow pile. I couldn't see the rest of her body, just her motionless fingers and her golden wedding band.

"I tried to move towards her, but my legs had gone numb. I couldn't move, I couldn't dig her or myself out of there. I soon lost consciousness again and woke up a few hours later in a hospital bed.

"The doctors there told me that a skier had found my wife's ski sticking out of the snow an hour after the avalanche. The rescue team dug us out, brought us to the nearest hospital, told me that a tree had landed on my legs and that I was paralyzed from the waist down, and that my wife… was dead."

Silence claimed the lab again as Dr. Finklestein struggled to gain control of his emotions and as Jack sat in his chair, too stunned to even know what to say. This poor man truly had lost everything, and he was haunted by the grief and pain of not being able to save the ones he loved. It actually made the skeleton feel guilty for making his own death seem like such a big, drastic thing.

"It's of the past now," the doctor began again slowly. "My family is together and I know they are in a better place."

This man really had grown close to Jack, otherwise he would've never opened up like that to him. He bet that not even the citizens of Halloween Town knew the doctor's past. Reaching out and patting the doctor's hand, Jack made a silent promise that this unique side of the doctor's would just stay between them.

"C'mon, doctor," Jack spoke gently as he stood up. "Let's get you to bed."

* * *

**Author's P.S:** Just to let you guys, after I beat my Nightmare Before Christmas game, I was inspired to write a Jack and Sally oneshot. If any of you would like to read it, feel free, but just to let you know, it has nothing to do with my story, **A Walk in the Dark**. Just a little cuteness between two inseperable dreamers.


	17. Chapter 16: The Day Before

**Author's Note: **Hiya, peoples! I know, I'm a terrible person, I lied about my update and I'm late by a couple of days. Forgive me! *hides under table to avoid flying random objects* Turns out, a lot of things just seemed to happen at once. I just got a new job so I've been training for that while working my final days at my soon to be old job and I also got to go to the set of Transformers 3 in Chicago! I didn't get to see Optimus Prime, but it was still amazing just to be there! :) Anyway, back to Nightmare. Again, I apologize, and I promise that I will stick to my deadline for my next chapter. That deadline will be... Monday (26). Be there or be square... and if I'm not there... you have my permission to shun me. Please read, review, and enjoy chapter 16! I'm on my way peoples to 120 reviews! I'm so close and it's all thanks to you! You're kind words make me feel so amazing, you have no idea! THANK YOU! :)

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Tim Burton's: The Nightmare Before Christmas, but I'm finding it really difficult to get 100% on every chapter in the video game. Tedious, tedious, tedious...

**Big Battle Countdown: **3 more chapters! Oh, boy, it's getting closer! **  
**

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**Ch. 16 – The Day Before**

"I'm sure once Halloween's past she'll be back to normal," Michael Shelton tried to ease his wife's worries; sipping his black coffee at the table as his tired eyes followed her anxious pacing around the kitchen.

"But she's just… been so distant lately," Jasmine bit her bottom lip as she crossed her arms over her stomach. "You heard what her teachers said. She's not participating, she's not turning in homework, she's not completing her tests… she's not trying anymore. Not trying in school, with her friends, or with us."

"Honey, what is there to worry about? Halloween's tomorrow and we're all feeling the same emotions."

Jasmine had to bite her lip harder just to keep the tears that were now flooding her eyes from pouring out. "Tomorrow will be difficult… I just don't want her to do anything drastic, that's all."

"Please, our Mo?" Michael cast a reassuring smile as he stood up and wrapped his strong arms around his small, quivering wife. "She may be a teenager now, but she's not stupid. We'll stay together and we'll get through this, okay?" Although, he had to admit, it was hard to even reassure himself at the moment. Knowing that he had lost his son, his own flesh and blood almost exactly one year ago made his own heart ache terribly.

It was barely nine in the morning and Michael already knew, for a fact, that that day, October 30th, was going to be just as long as Halloween. Was this going to happen every year? Would these uncontrollable emotions ever be able to be tamed one day?

_No…_ Michael thought, sighing as he brought his wife closer to his chest. _Probably never will…_

A sudden knock at the front door penetrated the sad, quite atmosphere, startling the parents mourning the death of their son.

"Odd," Michael cocked an eyebrow as he unraveled himself from his wife and slowly walked out of the kitchen.

"Who would come here so early?" Jasmine wondered, dabbing at her watering eyes as she followed her husband.

"We'll soon find out." Reaching the white front door, Michael placed his palms upon its wooden frame and pressed his right eye against the small peephole, closing his left eye so he could see outside more clearly.

"Well, what do ya know," a large smile stretched from ear to ear as Mr. Shelton backed away from the door and reached for its doorknob.

Eyebrows furrowing, Jasmine brought her hands up to her chest and held her robe shut, hiding her purple satin nightgown from whoever was about to enter their home. "Who is it, honey?"

"I'll give you three guesses." Not eve waiting for an answer, Michael turned the brass knob and opened the door, revealing three shivering, yet beaming young adults on their doorstep.

"Good morning, Mr. and Mrs. Shelton," Adin bowed courteously before them.

"Although a bit of a n-nippy start to the day i-if you ask me," Sam smiled, his teeth chattering as Coleen stood rather close to him, seeking the body warmth that the now-cold coffee in her green tumbler was not providing.

"Boys! Coleen! It's great to see you!"

"Oh, please, do come in out of the cold," Jasmine and Michael herded the trio into the warmth of their home and led them to the living room. "Sit down and I'll make you some hot coffee."

"No coffee for me, Mrs. Shelton," Coleen spoke up, "but if you have any more of that peppermint tea, that would be wonderful."

"Of course, dear. I drink it every day," Jasmine smiled. "Coffee, boys?"

"Hmm," Sam stroked his chin playfully as he pretended to ponder. "I do believe hot chocolate would hit the spot for me right about now. What do you think, Adin?"

"Oh, hot chocolate would be simply exquisite," Adin played along, talking in a thick British accent, "the perfect touch for such a dreadfully chilly day."

As Jasmine chuckled and shook her head on her way back to the small kitchen, Michael motioned to the small, outdated floral couches that sat in the equally small living room. "Please, sit. Make yourselves comfortable. Terrible weather we're having this fall, isn't it?"

"It's freezing!" Sam explained. "Once I get my college degree, I'm moving away from this unpredictable weather zone to someplace warm. I'm thinking… Arizona."

"Ha, that's IF you graduate, Sam."

"Well, I don't see you doing anything with your business degree, Adin."

"I'm waiting for a job opportunity to come my way, Mr. Undecided. You've been in school for seven years and you STILL don't know what you want to do with your life."

"Well, while you're waiting for you opportunity to hit you, I'm waiting for a career to hit me."

"Must you guys bicker and argue about everything?" Coleen sighed, interrupting the two "children" sitting beside her. "Please, we are guests. Behave yourselves."

"Yes, mom…"

"Sorry, Mr. Shelton."

"Ah, you guys haven't changed a bit," Michael laughed as he watched Coleen scowled the two adult boys who, in response, hung their heads in shame. "It's nice to see you guys keeping your spirits up during this… emotional time."

"Well, you see, Mr. Shelton, that's the reason we decided to come," Coleen said in a more somber tone as Mrs. Shelton came from the kitchen bearing three steaming coffee mugs. "This first Halloween will be very hard for us, no doubt. We can already sense it now and it's only the day before. So why not get through it together, right?"

Jasmine looked to be on the verge of crying again as she took a seat next to her husband after having passed out the warm beverages. "That was… very thoughtful of you… all of you. I can't even begin to imagine what you three have gone through this past year."

"Best just to… not talk about it right now," Adin stammered, holding up a hand as if that would stop the tears that were threatening to fall from his own eyes.

"So…" Sam cleared his throat, hoping to change the subject. "Where's Monster? I could've sworn she would've run out to see us by now."

"Oh… that is odd," Michael's brows furrowed as his gaze lingered towards the hallway that led to his daughter's room.

"She's here," Jasmine intervened. "She must be so wrapped up in writing her story that she didn't hear you."

"That or she's still sleeping. Mo! Monique!"

The creaking sound of a door opening could be heard coming from the end of the dark hallway. "What?" Monique's irritated voice drifted down to the group sitting together in the living room.

"There are people here to see you, sweetie. Why not come out to say hi?"

Coleen, Sam, and Adin purposely remained quiet, wanting to surprise the young teenager as they waited for her response.

"I don't want to see anybody right now. I've got more important things to do," the irritation in her voice had subsided a bit, but that didn't stop Monique from slamming her bedroom door shut, leaving the rest of the house in silence.

"You'll have to forgive her," Jasmine apologized for her daughter as she looked at the three surprised faces before her. "She hasn't really been acting herself lately. You know, with Halloween and all."

"Oh, yeah, sure," Adin said, blinking. "That's understandable. But… why would she not want to see anybody, especially us, before even knowing who was here to see her?"

"Don't take I too personally, Adin," Sam rested his large hand upon his friend's shoulder and gave him a little shake, "We'll just get up and go say hello to her in person. Come on."

Hoisting themselves up from the outdated, yet comfortable couch, Coleen, Sam, and Adin tiptoed down the dark hallway until they reached the door at the end. Silently turning the knob, they spotted Monique on her bed, crossing out phrases in a small black book that rested upon her lap. The three almost succeeded in trying to sneak into the teenager's bedroom… that is, until the large wooden door made a slight creaking noise.

Monique unleashed an irritated sigh as she placed her pencil into her book and slammed it shut. "I already told you that I didn't want to see…" She stopped in mid-sentence as she looked up from her lap and gazed at her bedroom door. Her lifeless blue eyes began to sparkle as they widened, a large smile stretching across her face as she recognized the three unforgettable figures now walking into her room. "Coleen! Creeps!"

As Monique stumbled out of her bed, her book falling out of her lap as she went, the three young adults decided to skip taking turns hugging her and just embraced the young teenager into a tight group hug, standing together for what seemed like forever.

"If I'd have known it was you guys, I would've been out there in a heartbeat," Monique trembled, crying as she hugged her non-biological sister and brothers.

"We decided to come for a surprise visit."

"I'm definitely surprised! It's so great to see you guys again!"

"We missed you too, Monster. It seems you've grown taller since the last time we saw you… and paler," there was worry in Sam's voice, bringing his hand up to Monique's forehead as if feeling for a fever.

"That's what happens when you don't leave your room that much, but I'm fine. Really, I'm fine," Monique assured, removing Sam's hand from her head while also dabbing at her moist eyes.

"We can talk more in the living room," Coleen cooed as she took Monique's small hand within her delicate grasp, starting to lead her out of her bedroom.

"Ooh, what's this, Monster?" Turning back towards her bed, Monique couldn't help the gasp that escaped when she saw Adin holding her black journal in his hand, ready to open it up and read its contents. "A secret diary talking about your love life? I must see!"

Quickly wriggling her fingers out of Coleen's gentle grip, Monique dashed over and plucked her book out of the blonde man's hand.

"Ow, paper cut!"

"Love life?" Monique laughed nervously, "Please. As if I could ever get a date." Exhaling a silent sigh of relief, the young teenager then shoved her journal beneath her pillow, hoping it would be safe from prying eyes under there. "So, how about that living room?"

Sam and Coleen looked questioningly at the fidgety teen until Adin broke the silence.

"That really hurt," Adin complained as he stuck his right index finger in his mouth.

"Oh, we'll get a Band-Aid from the bathroom on the way down," Sam said matter-of-factly, "You'll survive."

"Only if I can have Spider-Man on it."

"Ooh, sorry, Adin," Monique smiled, shrugging her shoulders, "We don't have Spider-Man."

"What?"

"We have Spongebob, though."

"… Okay, that'll work."

With the questioning tension now gone, Monique could breathe easier as she reached for Coleen's hand again. But as the four of them made their way to the bathroom just down the hall, the young teenager hid from her second family the aching pain that had begun to form in her heart.

Three more people were here to celebrate Halloween. Three more people were here to mourn for a lost son, brother, and friend. Three more people were here that would soon have broken hearts when she was gone.

She hated having to hurt more people, but she wasn't going back now, not after finally deciding how she would leave this world. It was life or Jack; a choice she found only too easy to make, and these three were just the people she wanted to see before she left.

So, as they made their way back to the living room, Adin now happy and satisfied with his Spongebob Squarepants Band-Aid, Monique made a silent promise. She was going to spend this last night with her friends and family. She was going to be herself, her old self from what seemed to be so many years ago. She was going to make her last night of life… a good night.

* * *

Night had already claimed Halloween Town, the dead world in the light of the bright full moon as the citizens twisted and turned, unable to sleep for they were too anxious for tomorrow.

Tomorrow… Tomorrow was Halloween, but it would be much different than the norm over the last fifty plus years. Tomorrow night would decide whether Oogie Boogie kept his title… or if Jack Skellington would become Halloween Town's next Pumpkin King.

Although every citizen looked forward to the battle of frights that was to come, there were still mixed feelings about how everyone wanted it to end. Many hoped Oogie would reign triumphant, for they had grown accustomed to Oogie's way of scaring and were excited about the new things he had in store. Yet others silently prayed that Jack would win. Sure, they wanted to see what surprised the skeleton had tucked away in that small skull of his, but mostly, they wanted to see what he could do to their Pumpkin King, for no one had every dared to challenge Oogie Boogie because no one could ever hope to beat him.

Along with the restless citizens, Dr. Finklestein remained awake in his lab. He sat in front of his workbench, a small tool box beside him as he inspected Jack's creation before him. Before that pumpkin sun rose back into the sky, the doctor promised that he would look at every angel and millimeter of Jack's design to make sure it was in perfect working condition for the contest.

Scratching his brain for the fifth time that night, the doctor turned the small camera-like machine upside down.

"Jack, hand me the 1/8" wrench, you forgot to tighten a bolt down here. Everything must be flawless if you even want to consider winning… TONIGHT would be… Thank you."  
Impatient and tired, the doctor refused to stop working, immediately setting back to work as soon as he felt the small wrench within his gloved hand. Although it wasn't Jack who had handed him the tool.

Ensuring the doctor did not hear her footsteps, Sally silently left the lab, searching for the skeleton who was, at the moment, missing in action.

Jack sat silently atop Curly Hill, letting his cluttered skull take a break as he stared blankly at the never-ending night sky. His left leg draped over the edge of the hill, dangling above the tombstones and pumpkins scattered below as he hugged his right knee close to his ribcage. He didn't know what to expect tomorrow, he didn't know if his best would be good enough or even mildly close to being good enough to beat what Oogie had in store.

Beside the uncertain skeleton floated Zero. The small ghost dog couldn't give Jack an encouraging pep talk or any kind words to could lift his spirit. The only thing he could do was be there for his master and friend, to keep him company and give him silent support as he nudged Jack's boney hand with his head.

Although his see-through body passed right through his bones, Jack could still sense his small companion's attempts to comfort him. Glancing away from the sky, the skeleton looked down, meeting the dark hollow eyes of Zero. Casting a small smile, he traced his hand over Zero's body, giving the illusion that he was petting the ghost dog.

"I thought I might find you here."

Hearing a familiar, gentle voice, Jack turned his head and found Sally climbing up Curly Hill towards him. Maneuvering himself till both of his boney legs dangled over the strange hill's edge, the skeleton offered a hand to the rag doll who, in turn, took it and sat down beside him, mimicking his actions. Sensing that Sally was there to give Jack the pep talk that he could not give, Zero chose to fly off back to his grave, wanting to leave the two alone.

"You've always loved to come here to think, haven't you, Jack?" Sally began shyly.

"No one usually comes this far into the graveyard, so it's usually quieter here than in other places," Jack shrugged his shoulders. "I haven't been out here in a while, so… why not now? Where's the doctor?"

"The door to his lab is locked and sealed and I have the key to the front door, which is also locked tight. Nobody's getting in there."

Jack unleashed an imaginary sigh of both relief and doubt as he met Sally's gaze. "Thank you, Sally."

Sally quickly turned away as heat began to overcome her face, her heart beating rapidly within her chest. His eye sockets were so entrancing to her. She could only imagine what they looked like when he was alive. "I'd do anything for you, Jack, but why are you out here all by yourself?"

"Well," Jack hesitated as he gripped the dead grass that covered the hill beneath him, "I was so sure of what I was supposed to do tomorrow… but now I…"

"Don't doubt yourself now, Jack, not when you're this close. If you're going to succeed tomorrow, just do what you love to do.:

"But, if I lose, Oogie will terrorize anyone who rooted for me. You, the doctor, and if he ever tried to hurt those children… I swear I'll kill him."

"Then… don't lose."

"Easier said than done, Sally."

"I'm just trying to help."

Jack suddenly felt small fingers intertwining with his as Sally scooted closer to his side.

"Listen, Sally," Jack said slowly, removing his boney hand from hers before she could take hold of it, "I appreciate your support and you are helping to ease my nerves, but… I can't return any feelings for you right now. My girlfriend… Coleen… I still remember her and… I still want to be with her. You remind me so much of her which makes me, in turn, feel very protective of you. I have to do this… alone. Do you understand?"

Normally, a girl's heart would be crushed if the man she loved broke it in two by saying he couldn't be with her, but surprisingly, Sally felt… neutral. She was a little upset that he didn't return her feelings for him, but she was touched by the fact that, even for not having been able to see her for a year, he still had strong feelings for the girl he was forced to leave behind.

"Of course, Jack, I understand," Sally answered, nodding sadly, "Do what you must to win tomorrow."

As Sally stood up and slowly made her way down the hill towards the path that led into town, Jack found himself reaching out towards her. He wanted to apologize, but he didn't know what to say. Bringing his boney hand up to rub his tired face, the pale blue rag doll gazed back towards the skeleton's shadow outlined by the full moon.

_Just know,_ Sally thought as she rested her clasped hands upon her heart, _that I'll always love you._


	18. Chapter 17: This is Halloween

**Author's Note: **Hiya, peoples! No! I'm an hour late! I do apologize people! I had such a busy day today and I couldn't type fast enough! Anyway, hopefully this chapter is nice and long for you and I would also like to apologize if my writing is a little off, for it is nearly one in the morning right now and and I have to wake up in about 4 hours to go to Chicago. Woo hoo, going to get through today with slap happiness! Hopefully I won't crash at work. Anyway, a couple things before we get started with Ch. 17: First off, thanks to shockinglyawesome's many simultaneous reviews yesterday, my story has now reached over 120 reviews! WOO HOO! Thank you so much readers and reviewers! Secondly, I would like to dedicate this chapter to one of my faithful readers, Katieghost, for she has just started school and we all know that terrible sinking feeling of walking into those doors. So, Katieghost, please forgive me that this is so late, and hopefully this chapter will help to lift your spirits. :) And last off, okay, I'm going to let you all know that I just recently got a new job and this is also my last week for my old job so I'm working EVERYDAY until next Monday! I know, crazy, but I will try to get my next chapter up either Friday (30) or Saturday (31). I'm sorry that I can't make any guarantees right now, but I'm going to try really hard for you guys. Alright, I think that's everything. If I forgot anything, I'll let you guys know in the next chapter. Have a wonderful week, thank you for all of your kind words, and please read, review, and enjoy Ch. 17 of A Walk in the Dark!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Tim Burton's: The Nightmare Before Christmas, but I'm going to try to send him a fan letter soon! :)

**WARNING! PLEASE READ!:** Okay, I just want to warn everyone ahead of time that I described a couple of death scenes close to the end of this chapter. I don't want anyone to feel offended or hurt by anything that I write, so if you would rather skip over it, then just don't read anything italicized at the end of this chapter. This warning is just for the protection of others' thoughts and feelings towards death. I don't wish to give anyone any ideas, I just wish for the safety of my reader's minds and hearts if they have lost anyone to these incidents.

**Big Battle Countdown:** 2 more chapters! Oh man, oh man, oh man...

* * *

**Ch. 17 – This is Halloween**

_Boys and girls of every age…_

The bright crimson light from the large pumpkin sun

Was fading away as the dark night comes

_Wouldn't you like to see something strange…?_

This night held fear and terror, no doubt

_Come with us and you will see…_

When shadows and demons could dance without care

And those amongst the living had better beware…

_This our town of Halloween…_

"Halloween! Halloween! Halloween!" Halloween Town's citizens cheered endlessly as the coming night brought with it the most important celebration of the year. Other than Independence Day, this holiday was the only one where everything happened when darkness claimed the sky and all sources of light had been extinguished.

The town square, on the other hand, was full of light that emanated from the many orange, green, and black lanterns that decorated each house. Along with the decorations, every creature and corpse had prepared themselves for this frightfully wonderful occasion: the witches' hats were as pointy as ever, the vampire brothers' fangs were tinted red with blood, Clown would tear off his face and scream without warning, Mr. Hyde allowed his two smaller selves to sit out upon his shoulders, the children chased each other through the delighted crowd, all five hanging men were accounted for on the hanging tree, and the Werewolf began to howl at the rising full moon.

This year's celebration was going to be different, though, as everyone was gathered together before a high wooden stage that rested right in the middle of Halloween Town square. Upon this stage, Oogie Boogie had his hands resting on his sides, impatiently tapping the creaking wooden boards beneath him with his foot as his gaze wondered over the crowd. Beside him was Jack Skellington, whose arms were crossed in front of his chest, his eye sockets anxiously scanning the crowd as his opponent was.

"Coming through! Coming through!" The voice that everyone had been waiting to hear finally rose from the crowd as the Mayor pushed his way to the stage from Town Hall.

"It's about time, Mayor," Oogie unleashed a frustrated sigh, ignoring the glare he received from the skeleton standing next to him.

"Forgive my delay," the Mayor panted, "but I couldn't find any documents that had the rules for a Pumpkin King Scare Off. So," the Mayor flashed a large, cheesy grin as he revealed a long, tattered piece of parchment from his coat that formed a mini train upon the stage, "I created some new rules."

"You can't be serious…"

"Hush!" If Jack could've rolled his eyes at the moment, he would've as Oogie's childlike behavior continued to get on his nerves.

Coughing into his small hand, the Mayor cleared his throat before he began what appeared to be a long speech. "Citizens of Halloween Town! As your elected official, I am pleased to announce that over the past fifty years, our holiday has been led by our terrorizing Pumpkin King, Oogie Boogie!"

Pausing for dramatic effect, the citizens took the silence as a chance to cheer for their beloved King: Oogie, once again, soaking up the praise from his fans like an overly-large sponge.

"But," the Mayor continued, speaking over the cheers until they had died down once again, "due to an unexpected turn of events, one being among us has stepped forward to challenge Oogie Boogie in a battle of frights for the title of Pumpkin King. Our newest addition to the town, Jack Skellington!"

Not expecting as many to root for him as Oogie, Jack was surprised to hear the uproar that came bursting out of the crowd. A broad smile crossed his boney face as his eye sockets met the gazes of every creature that cheered his name. His smile soon disappeared as soon as his gaze lingered over to Oogie. The sack of bugs glared at the town's citizens, shooting venom at them with just his menacing glare. From that look alone, Jack knew he HAD to win; if not for himself, for the safety of the innocent people around him.

"Now, if this challenge were to ever occur… which it has… the challengers must follow these rules for a fair battle:

No harming the living: scaring is for fun, not harm

No intermingling, distracting, or sabotaging your opponent's scare tactics: clean and fair battle

You have from five o'clock, when Trick-or-Treating begins, till midnight to scare as many people as you can: if one of you is winning by a long shot, the winner will be decided before the night is over

Now, any questions before we begin?"

Both Jack and Oogie stared questioningly at the Mayor, silently thinking the same thing.

"That's it?" Oogie spoke first. "You get all of this set up for these so called 'rules' and you only have three? What's with the long parchment, then?"

Turning his head 180 degrees, the Mayor's smile quickly turned into a frown as he stared up at Oogie's large form. "I have large handwriting! And I was scribbling stuff out as I wrote it!" He turned the long parchment around, showing the skeleton and the sack of bugs all of the black smudges and crossed out words that covered nearly three quarters of the paper.

"Uh," Jack struggled to think of a question. Sure, the rules were simple to understand, but he thought, if he didn't ask a question before they began, Oogie would probably strangle the Mayor. "How will we know if you pick a winner before midnight?"

"Oh, I'm glad you asked, Jack," the Mayor's mood was instantly lifted as his head spun around back to his normal, cheerful face. "The loser will be brought back to Halloween Town while the winner will be allowed the choice of either dwelling in the land of the living or coming back as well, but whoever that is only has until midnight. Once midnight hits, Halloween is over and we are not allowed to overstay our welcome."

"Right…" Jack said, lowering his gaze to the ground. How would he be able to pull of beating Oogie and trying to find his family before the night was over? The weeks prior to Halloween had gone by so quickly, a couple of hours would pass in the blink of an eye.

"Any more, questions? No? All right, then, open the main gate!"

The large, black gate signifying the entrance to Halloween Town slowly began to lift off the ground, paving a path for the two challengers to take.

"It's 4:55 right now. Your battle begins in five minutes. Head to the graveyard and you will find your way to the land of the living. Now, shake hands."

Slowly turning towards each other, Jack was the first to hold his hand out, wanting to give the impression that he was ready for whatever the sack of bugs had planned for that night. Oogie quickly took the skeleton's hand, squeezing it until his bones could be heard grinding together.

"Prepare to lose, Jack," Oogie hissed under his breath.

"You wanna bet?" With that, the two let go of each other, leapt off the stage, and raced through the main gate towards the graveyard. The citizens cheered one more time, knowing only one would come back victorious.

"Let it begin!"

* * *

"Trick or Treat!"

Mrs. Shelton smiled, having opened the door and found two identical five year old boys in matching Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle costumes standing on her doorstep, pillowcases already halfway full of sugary sweets held open towards her. Their father stood at the bottom of the driveway, smiling and waiting for his boys to come skipping down to him and then racing towards the next candy-filled house next door.

"How cute. Here you go, boys," Mrs. Shelton lowered a large pumpkin bowl down full of Wonka goodies: Laffy Taffy, Nerds, and Fun Dip, oh my!

"What do you say, boys?" The boys' father called up to them as their small fingers wrapped greedily around the colorful treats.

"Thank you!" They said simultaneously, smiling as they stashed their candy away for tomorrow's sugar high and raced each other back to their awaiting dad.

Closing the white front door, Jasmine couldn't help but let out a sad sigh as she set the candy dish down on the small table nearby. "I remember when Jack used to act like that when we took you boys trick-or-treating."

"Used to? Mrs. Shelton, I believe the correct term is 'still do'."

"That is I we can even get out of this house. Trick-or-treating started an hour ago!"

Entering the living room, Mrs. Shelton's spirits were slightly lifted as she watched Sam and Adin pout like little kids on the couch, both in the most "interesting" costumes she had ever seen the boys in yet. Sam had taken a few cardboard boxes and a lot of red, white, and blue construction paper and made himself into the 1980s Transformers, Optimus Prime. Adin, on the other hand, wore a baggy orange hoody and equally baggy orange sweatpants with black and white stripes covering his body from his chest down to his ankles. On his feet were jet black sneakers and a top his head he wore an orange beanie with two rather large googly eyes glued to the bottom. He called himself… Nemo.

"If I were your mother, I wouldn't even LET you out of the house. Especially not like that," Sam stated as he gestured to his friend's ridiculous get up.

"Hey, don't be dissing Nemo! It was a very successful movie and it happens to be one of my favorites. And look," Adin tucked his left arm into his sweatshirt until only his hand could be seen flailing around. "I even have a gimpy fin!"

Sam rolled his eyes as he let out a long sigh. "Well, smart one, if you love the movie so much, you would know that his gimpy fin is the right one, NOT the left."

Looking rather displeased with himself, Adin silently straightened out his left arm back into its sleeve while bringing his right arm into his sweatshirt. "Well, at least I'm not some outdated robot."

"Optimus Prime will NEVER be outdated! He's been my hero since I was a kid. Why, you may ask? Because he's got the touch, my friend."

Sitting on the second couch next to the continuously bickering children, Coleen couldn't help but laugh as she watched Heidi Bennet's face turn into a look of pure confusion. The tween had dressed up as Casey Lynch from Guitar Hero; her long blonde hair pulled up into a ponytail, skinny black pants and a white corset top covering her thin form with a thick clack chocker encircling her neck. A black Guitar Hero guitar with blue flames licking the bottom lay next to her on the couch.

"Do they… always act like that?" Heidi whispered, leaning closer to the adult woman beside her.

"Honey," Coleen began, wearing black skinny jeans and a dark purple v-neck long sleeve shirt, deciding to bet the chaperone of the evening, "those two will act like that until the day they die." She really didn't want to think about death, even though this was the holiday for that kind of stuff, but how could she not? This was the day Jack had died… exactly one year ago, she had lost the man that could've been sitting right beside her at this moment… as her husband… Blinking back hot tears, she was almost too happy to see Mr. Shelton appear from the hallway of bedrooms.

"She still isn't ready," Michael shrugged his shoulders as he changed his course to the front door where his wife was giving out candy to some teenagers. The boys were dressed up as cheerleaders and the girls as football players. Jasmine was telling the boys that they had to earn their candy by doing a cartwheel and, sure enough, the teenage boys were running to the grassy front yard to show off their terribly-performed cartwheels.

"She said that TWO hours ago!" Adin sighed, resting his head upon his left hand.

"Give her time," Heidi piped up, shooting a glare at the two immature adults sitting nearby, "she wants everything to be perfect." The truth was, everyone HAD been waiting since four o'clock for Monique to come out and read to them her story. Heidi had decided to still come over. Sure, Mo hadn't talked to her since their pointless argument four days prior, but she had promised her friend that she would come to hear her story… and she had kept that promise.

"Here, let me check on her to make sure she's alright," Coleen hoisted herself up off of the Shelton's flower couch, hearing yet another argument brewing from Sam and Adin as she made her way towards the hallway.

"Aw, hurry it up, Monster! We're going to miss all the good candy!"

"No fun, no fun at all!"

"Well, it would've at least been A LITTLE more fun if you had dressed up like Megatron. We talked about it, remember? We were going to put on a show for the neighborhood!"

"I don't remember the memo. And besides, it would've been more fun if YOU had dressed up as Dory. You would match her personality perfectly, seeing as how stupid you two are."

"What was that?"

_Wow, I really am curious now as to how those two are going to act when they're in their 80s. _Coleen mused to herself as she reached the door at the end of the hall. "Mo? You ready?" she called through the wood as she knocked on the door.

"I'm not ready yet," was the teenager's muffled reply from within.

"Is there anything wrong? Do you want to talk about anything before you come out and share your story?"

"I'm not ready yet."

"All right. I was just wondering if you needed some help in there."

"I'm not ready yet."

As Coleen was turning to return to the others, she found herself stopping. Something didn't seem right. Not only was the young teenager repeating herself over and over again, the tone in her voice wasn't changing either. Deciding to run a little test, Coleen thought of something that would surely get a reaction out of Monique.

"Jack was the worst. You know, I'm glad he's gone." The words tasted like chalk in her mouth as the lie came out. It wasn't the truth, it was only for a test, and sure enough…

"I'm not ready yet."

Convinced that something was definitely wrong, Coleen knelt to the ground, removed a small bobby pin from her hair, and began to pick at the lock of Monique's door. The young woman had become very good at picking locks over the past year, considering how many times she had locked herself out of her own house. After a few twists and turns and a satisfying click, she jiggled the handle till the wooden door opened.

"Mo?" Coleen called as she slowly pushed the door open and stepped inside of the young teenager's safe haven.

"I'm not ready yet."

The voice was louder now… and it seemed to be coming from behind the door she had just entered through. Quickly slamming the door shut, Coleen found a small purple cell phone velcroed to its wooden back. The tiny bright screen read "voice activated".

"What type of function is that? I've never even heard…"

"I'm not ready yet." The voice of Monique automatically came out of the cell phone.

Gazing around, Coleen realized that Monique wasn't even IN her room, probably hadn't been for the past couple of hours. Her eyes lingered on the window sitting about a foot above the tween's bed. The glass was closed, but the screen that usually rested outside of it was missing.

"Why would she run? Unless…" A light dawned on Coleen as she lifted the navy blue pillow from the head of the twin-sized bed and found the little black journal Mo had been writing in the day before. As she picked it up hoping to find some answers as to her non-biological sister's whereabouts, her left thumb delicately brushed over a design that popped out of the bottom corner near the book's spine. Removing her finger, her pale green eyes widened as she saw a small white sticker of a skull and crossbones upon the cover of the journal. Not knowing what to expect within the pages, she slowly opened the front cover and found this…

Two to three paragraphs covered each small page, their words crossed out in pencil as if the young teen hadn't wanted anyone to read what she had written. But some scribbled granite wasn't enough to hide the horrific captions that Coleen had begun to read:

_Slicing a blade across my wrists would probably be fast. The only question I have is… How long does it hurt for? What if I don't cut my veins the right way? *Rethink this one*_

_ There's some rope in the garage. All I have to do is find a ceiling tall enough and something to tie the rope onto. I'm not good at making nooses, but hey, I'll improvise. Lots of people have killed themselves this way, so it can't be that difficult, right? *Might not find place high enough*_

_ Chainsaw… Too loud, too messy… Too scary! *Definite NO*_

_ I could take my parent's car and drive it into the Chicago River. Just, before I suffer too long, breathe in the water once my head goes under. I heard you actually feel at peace before you drown. *Possibility*_

Coleen's breath quickened as her eyes darted faster and faster across each of the many crossed out captions. Every page she turned, to her horror, held some tactic, some way… to die. The young woman hadn't even thought of half of the deaths this young teenager had managed to think up! She was now going so fasts that she almost missed a caption that hadn't been crossed out, but had been circled. Trying to slow her racing heart, Coleen turned back to the clear caption and silently read:

_My last will and testament is to die on Halloween by burning myself alive. To die where my brother had, when my brother had, and feel the pain my brother had. Maybe, by doing so, I'll finally understand that one word that has always plagued me… Why?_

"Oh… my… God…" Coleen sat frozen on Monique's bed, not able to take her eyes off of that one caption. "Mo's… going to kill herself!" Not even thinking about the others waiting in the living room, the young woman slammed the book shut, opened the window, squeezed her way out with the journal tucked under her arm, and began to run towards the screams of Michigan Avenue. But she was running blindly.

"I have to stop her!" Coleen panted. "Okay, I know Jack died at eleven o'clock… but where did it happen?"

* * *

**Author's P.S:** Okay, a couple other things. One, c'mon, people! I had to put in something about Transformers! If you haven't seen my profile, I would suggest looking at it to see how truly obsessed I am. :) Second, the whole incident with the teenage boys doing the cart wheels in the front yard for candy actually DID happen! It happened at my house about 2 or 3 Halloween's ago. We were giving out those really large pixie sticks and my mom told the boys that if they wanted them, then they would have to do a cartwheel. I've never seen boys move that fast before in my life! :) Anyway, just a couple of fun facts. Check back here at the end of the week and hopefully Ch. 18 will be up. God bless!

**READER'S TURN TO HELP THE WRITER!:** Alright, readers, it's your chance to shine! To write my big battle between Oogie and Jack, I'm going to need your help! When you write a review, make sure to add: 1) what you think would make a really freaky illusion?; 2) what is your worst fear?/ what can you not stand?; and/or 3) what other torture device would you like to see Oogie use with just a roll of his dice? This would be a major help to my story and you just might be able to see your worst fears come to life in the battle between everyone's favorite skeleton and a rather favorable boogie man.


	19. Chapter 18: Running Out of Time

**Author's Note: **Hiya, peoples! I'm a terrible, terrible, terrible person for being 4 days late... or maybe 5... but who's counting? I don't mean to make up excuses, but I actually did have stuff keeping me away from my writing this time. I've been working at 2 jobs everyday for the last week, my last day at my old job was last night, but I had to make like 300 pizzas or so for customer appreciation day, I've been having to fill out and sign a bunch of promisery notes for college financial aid, and, to top it all off, I've been PMSing. Guys out there, be thankful that you're not a girl, if you're not, then I will hunt you down and show you just how lucky you really are being a boy. Anyway, enough with my ranting. Thank you all so very much for answering my questions on my last chapter! You don't know how helpful this has been for me! When I read your responses, I could already see battle ideas playing out in my head, so I'm pretty excited to write it now! :) I'm almost done with this story! Just two more chapters and an epilogue and my masterpiece will be complete! Thank you all so much for your wonderful support and I also have a surprise for you all, but... you won't be able to find out what it is until the end of the story. Oh, snap, sorry guys! :) I would also like to make another chapter dedication. :) This chapter is dedicated to **kaialone02** who joined fan fiction just to review my story. I'm not trying to sound braggy, it just meant a lot to me that someone would sign up just to tell me how my story was. Thank you so much, **kaialone02**, you rock! :) Okay, next update time! Let's see... well... I'll say Friday (6). I'm going to try to get the last 3 chapters up as close as possible so I don't keep all of you wonderful readers and reviewers waiting for too long. Again, thank you all for you wonderful support and I'll try to update on time this time. ;) Read, review, and enjoy Ch. 18!

**Disclaimer: **No... You can't make me say it! I won't! All right, fine, I'll say it! I don't own Tim Burton's: The Nightmare Before Christmas! Dang it! Why'd you have to bring out the the Twilight movie? X0

**Big Battle Countdown: **1 MORE CHAPTER! All right, it's not in the next chapter but the chapter AFTER next (a.k.a. Ch. 20). I must have miscounted, but what can I do? It's summer and my brain isn't functioning quite right. :)

* * *

**Ch. 18 – Running Out of Time**

From the comfort of their own hidden existence, Halloween Town's citizens gathered around the large fountain in the middle of the town square, jumping and cheering every time they heard a scream emit from the water within.

It was nearing 10:30 for the land of the living. The children had already gone home, exhausted and feeling sick from eating too much candy. But the creatures of the town knew that it was too easy to scare children; the real test was scaring the teenagers and adults that swarmed the streets in the dead of Halloween night.

The fountain being the only visible connection they had to the land of the living, Halloween Town's citizens used its magical water to jump back and forth between Oogie Boogie and Jack Skellington to see how they were doing.

Oogie Boogie was doing a horribly phenomenal job, as to be expected by their beloved Pumpkin King (In Halloween Town terms, "horribly phenomenal" is a good thing ). The large sack of bugs had set up a large tent in a narrow courtyard that was wedged between two large buildings along Michigan Avenue. The creatures of Halloween Town knew that Oogie's Gambling Arena of Terror lay within the shadows of the black and orange striped tent, but no one could see what was going on within. All they knew was that whoever stepped inside came running out screaming a couple minutes later… Yep, seemed normal enough!

But the citizens didn't focus on Oogie for too long of periods at a time, wanting to watch the rookie and see his progress. To everyone's surprise, Jack Skellington was doing horribly well (Again, good thing for Halloween Town ). His illusions were quite creative would scare the snot out of every teenager and man who were unfortunate enough to cross his path.

* * *

"Ugh, I HATE Halloween," Lindsay Macow groaned, leaning against one of the many Starbucks buildings scattered throughout Chicago. Her group of friends had wanted to go into the haunted house next door, but she didn't know why. Why would anyone want a holiday to get candy and to get scared every few moments?

The only part the drama queen did like about this whole pointless holiday was dressing up in costumes. Tonight, she could show off as much of her body as she wanted and no one else would care, especially not the older teenage boys wondering the darkened streets along with her friends.

Giggling at the thought, the young teenager maneuvered herself away from the brick wall and positioned herself in front of the large window that allowed passersby to gaze into the all too popular coffee shop. Since all of the lights were off within, Lindsay could see her own reflection perfectly, admiring her skimpy pink genie costume that showed off a vast amount of her frail body.

"Ha, everyone WISHES they could look as good as I do in a costume," Lindsay smiled, resting a hand upon her hip while her other hand came up and flicked her dark curly hair behind her shoulder. But as she brought her arms forward to cross in front of her stomach, something weird happened… her reflection didn't move with her. It stayed in its original pose, hand on hip and the other in mid hair flick.

"Hey! What's going on?" the young teenager snapped as she pressed her face up against the window to gaze inside, wondering who was playing this trick on her. To her surprise, no one was in the coffee shop. Stepping back, she found her reflection still stuck in the same pose as before. "That… That's not possible…"

Suddenly, her reflection began to expand, becoming larger as if it were being lifted up with helium.

"No! No, I'm not fat!" Lindsay screamed as her reflection continued to blow up and seemed to be on the verge of popping. Then, as the expansion ceased, the reflection's skin began to peel off. Strip by strip the pale white skin peeled away from the bloated Lindsay, revealing the muscle and blood that remained hidden underneath.

The young teenager watched in horror as layer after layer slowly peeled away from her reflection, revealing intestines, brains, kidneys, and everything else many people had no desire of ever seeing in their lifetime. She couldn't pry her wide eyes away from the terrifying sight until nothing but bone remained, which quickly collapsed into a heap on the ground.

Having had seen enough, Lindsay took off screaming down the street, waving her arms as she ran as fast as her legs could possibly carry her. As her screams died, the friends she had been waiting for came waltzing out of the haunted house.

"That was so scary," one of the girls whispered with wide eyes, clinging onto the arm of one of the boys that had come with them.

"Oh, please. It wasn't that scary," the boy replied, although he was blushing under his mask, the girl not having let go of him since they had entered the house.

"Eh, I've seen scarier. Hey, Lindsay, you ready to go?" The young group of teenagers looked around in the darkness, but couldn't find their friend.

"She was out here when we went in… wasn't she?"

"121."

* * *

Yes, he was forty. Yes, he lived in his mother's basement. Yes, he wasted 23 hours a day playing World of Warcraft, but tonight was his night. Halloween night was his night to dress up and find himself… a woman.

For the past twenty years or so, Jerry's mother had been telling him to go out and interact with civilization and that, by doing so, he would find a special someone to get to know and possibly, _hopefully_, become close to. So far… unsuccessful.

But Jerry had high hopes for this night. Every Halloween, he would dress up as a mysterious masked figure, hiding his true identity from those around him and hoping to maybe catch a few curious glances from the ladies. He had succeeded a few times in bringing a lady home with him, but once she found out who he really was… she usually ran out of the house screaming.

One night, though. One night, he would find a woman who would love him even when he took off his mask, who would love his electronic nerdiness and join him in some video game fun, and who would help him socialize with a rather unforgiving, yet sometimes captivating society.

This Halloween, the forty-year-old had dressed up as the Phantom of the Opera; a character so mysterious, yet so intriguing… one of his best costumes yet. Dressed all in black, a long cloak pinned to his shoulders, and the infamous white mask covering the right half of his face, Jerry had set off into the night searching for haunted houses… and women.

He had been wondering the streets of Chicago for hours and it was getting late. His black sneakered feet dragged along the pavement as his shoulders hunched forward, both his body and mind tired and ready for bed… and maybe a warm glass of milk from mom… and maybe some cookies… ooh, and maybe a little…

"Help!"

The shrill cry of a damsel in distress pierced the air causing Jerry to perk up. The cry sounded like it was only a block in front of him.

"Help!"

"Help is on the way, fair maiden!" Jerry sprinted forward, knowing that this was not a game, knowing in real life, he could be a hero.

"Help!"

The cry was much louder now, right across the street actually as Jerry skidded to a halt, nearly tripping over the cloak that had wrapped itself around his legs.

"Stupid cloak. Miss!" Eyes darting all along the street, they rested on a slim shadow staring at him from the sidewalk on the other side. He rushed over. "What's wrong, miss? Were you mugged or raped… or… none of the above…"

The man's spirits sank as he came face to face with his dark haired damsel… a mannequin damsel. The only thing the rather attractive statue probably ever needed rescuing from was a dummy shredder.

"Of course this would happen to me," Jerry sighed sadly, gazing around and listening for any faint sounds of snickering from those who had set up this prank. "All right, whoever did this, you got me. Now take your dummy home and leave me alone."

"Help!"

"Ah!" Jerry screamed as the mannequin cried once again into his ear and GRABBED hi billowing cloak, stopping him in his tracks.

"What sort of prank is this?" He struggled to get away as the mannequin used the long cloth to pull him closer and closer to her. Hesitating to look back, Jerry turned his had around enough to stare wide-eyed at the dummy. Its face held no expression, yet its arms and fingers moved as if they belonged to a real person.

"Help!"

"Get away from me!" Before it could reach for his arm, Jerry unpinned the cloak from his shoulders and ran into the darkness, not caring where he ended up as long as it was as far away from HER as he could get.

What the man didn't notice before he had run, was that the mannequin was back to normal again, a long black cloak draped over her motionless arms. A tall shadow walked up to the dummy, smiling as it rested an elbow upon its shoulder.

"125."

* * *

"Dude… this stuff is powerful…"

"I know… right?"

Three adult men sat upon an empty stoop, smoking who knows what, but highly enjoying themselves. They swayed back and forth, smiling as they felt as light as a feather, eyes drooped and glazed over.

"Aaron, Aaron, Aaron…" One of the men stood up and stumbled to the lamppost that lit the sidewalk in front of them. "You gotta hook me up with some of this stuff… man…"

"I told you… Nick…" Aaron slurred, waving his hand at his friend, "this was a gift… I don't got anymore…"

"Gift from who?" the third man sprawled out upon the step he sat on, seeing as how Nick got up and left it open.

"From the Tooth Fairy, Louis…"

"That bitch scares the shit out of me."

"She's not real, jackass."

"Matt gave me this… okay?"

"Matt? Now I'm gonna have to… track him down… so he can give me more of this booze…" As Nick tightened his grip on the lamppost to keep him from falling on his face, the cool metal began to shift beneath his touch, twisting and turning like a noodle till it was wrapped firmly around his wrist. "What the hell?"

"What's wrong, Nick?"

"The lamppost is holding me captive!"

Aaron and Louis stared at their friend, who seemed to be struggling, but they couldn't tell with what.

"Dude, there's nothing there…"

"I'm serious, guys!" Nick stammered, now scared for his life as the lamppost's grip became tighter with every squirm he made. He glanced away from his captor to look at his friends, his eyes suddenly growing very wide. The once innocent, peaceful looking stoop before him was not a giant mouth with razor sharp teeth… and his friend, Louis, was lying right on its tongue.

"Holy shit! Louis, get out of there!"

"What are you screaming about, man?" Louis shifted around on his step, freezing when he felt a sort of warm slime not covering the once cold stone step. Noticing the rows of razor sharp teeth both above and below him, he let out an ear piercing scream as the jaws came clamping shut on him. Aaron bolted up off the stoop, watching in horror as Louis used his hands and feet to keep the stoop monster from clamping its mouth completely shut.

It wasn't long until Aaron got his own surprise, the sidewalk beneath him seeming to turn into quicksand as his sneakers began to disappear into the once solid cement. Struggling until he had freed himself from the strange liquid, the man then threw his cigarette butt out into the dark street and ran for his life.

"I'm never smoking that stuff again!"

"Aaron, wait!" Both simultaneously freeing themselves from their own captors, Nick and Louis mimicked their friend's actions before running after him as well.

A soft chuckle could be heard from a nearby alleyway as a tall skeleton revealed himself from the shadows. The small illusion camera machine within his boney hand flickered a purple-blue light from its lens before shutting off completely.

"That makes 132 so far," Jack smiled as he patted his machine. "I'd almost forgotten how much fun it was to scare people." And with that, he disappeared back into the shadows in search of his next unfortunate victim.

* * *

A group of groomsmen waited impatiently outside of an orange and black striped tent, tapping their feet as they continuously checked their watches. The groom, Philip, was getting married the next day, November 1st, and what a perfect way to spend a last bachelor night then getting the snot scared out of you with a bunch of friends on Halloween night? But all this waiting around was getting rather ridiculous.

"Man, Phil's been in there a long time," the best man, Richard, stated the obvious. "Should we go in there?"

"Didn't you read the sign?" Another groomsman pointed out. "Only one person is allowed inside at a time."

"Eh, I'm not surprised. This tent is pretty small, but what's going on in there?"

As if on cue, the terrified scream of a man came out of the tent and Philip came bursting out of its doorway.

"Whoa, Phil, take it easy. What happened in there, man?"

"That… That… That wasn't even humanly possible!" Philip stammered before taking off down the dimly lit streets of Michigan Avenue. "Not possible!"

"Phil, wait! Come back!"

"If we lose you before tomorrow, Susan will kill us!"

As the men became mere shadows upon the already darkened horizon, a large sack of bugs came waddling out of the tent, hands resting on his hips and a very unhappy look upon his face.

"No cooperation, no cooperation at all!" Oogie roared, not caring if Halloween Town's citizens were listening in on him. They were probably more interested in how the bag of bones was doing anyway. "That's the 214th person that has escaped my game board! I want to torture someone tonight and, by God, I'm GONNA torture someone till they die! But the people I've encountered tonight are too strong, too hard to overcome. I need someone weak, someone who couldn't fight against me no matter how hard they tried. I need…"

"Dogs… Tank… Bugs…"

Stopping mid-sentence, Oogie glanced across the street and found a young woman running as fast as she could down the sidewalk. She spoke random words to herself, panting as her curly orange hair bounced with every step she took. Her black skinny jeans and purple blouse exposed her frail form quite nicely as well as she continued down Michigan Avenue.

"Flames… Dogs… Dogs…" Across the street from Oogie's tent lay Chicago's junkyard, a large scrap heap that rested along the edge of America's infamous Lake Michigan. The young woman had stopped in her tracks, trying to catch her breath as she stared at the entrance to garbage paradise. "Junkyard dogs… This is it!"

As she ran into the high towers of the city's garbage, a sly sneer crossed Oogie's face as he disappeared into the surrounding shadows.

"…her."

* * *

"Mo! Mo, where are you?" Coleen cried, her voice growing hoarse as she ran through the seemingly never-ending maze of junk. She had never given any thought as to how big this junkyard really was and she was disgusted by how much the city threw away, but now was not the time to think about garbage. It was ten to 11 and she was running out of time to save a young girl who was willing to throw her entire life away for one person. "Please, Monique, answer me!"

Turning the corner of another tower of garbage, Coleen stumbled across a clear area where nothing cluttered the dirt ground beneath her. Instead, the young woman found black scorch marks forever burned into the earth and, standing above them, was Monique.

"Mo…" Coleen took in a sharp breath, slowly inching towards the young teenager, not wanting to make any sudden moves, "Don't do this…"

Monique's look of surprise quickly turned to one of guilt as her eyebrows furrowed. "How do you know what I'm going to do?" She spoke in a shaky voice, her front teeth biting her quivering bottom lip as she avoided eye contact with Coleen.

Unleashed a long sigh, Coleen revealed the small black journal that she had been hugging to her hip for who knew how long. "I've gotta say, girl, this is the scariest book I've ever read."

The young teenager began to fidget with a small box she held within her small hands. "I want to see Jack. No, I want to BE with Jack. This is the only way…"

"Ending your life isn't the answer, honey!" Frustrated, Coleen threw the journal onto the ground. She was determined to change the young teenager's suicidal thoughts, for she wasn't leaving this junkyard without her. "Jack would've NEVER allowed you to do this."

"Well… Jack's not here to stop me."

"But I am. Drop whatever you're holding and come with me. We're going home."

"The only home I'm going to is the one where Jack is!" A clock sounded in the distance, signifying that the 11 o' clock hour had arrived.

"Mo, you need help," Coleen began to speak quickly, knowing that she had no more time left. "Let me help you. Just because Jack isn't with us, doesn't mean that he's gone forever. As long as you hold onto your memories of him when he WAS alive and keep that love you have for him within your heart, he'll never go away. Trust me, I know exactly what pain you are going through. I… I found out that Jack was going to propose to me."

Monique could only stare silently as Coleen tried to regain control of her emotions. She had to stay strong; at this moment of life and death, she HAD to be strong for Mo.

"We…" Monique suddenly broke the silence as the smallest of smiles crept across her pale face, "… would've been sisters?"

Coleen nodded slowly. "When I found that ring… my heart tore apart. I don't know if it will ever be able to heal, but I keep his ring with me now… always."

"Oh, Coleen," Monique was now on the verge of tears. "I'm so sorry…"

"Not as sorry as I'll be if I let you go through with this. Please… let's get through this hard time together," Coleen held out her hand to the young teenager, hoping that it would be enough of an invitation to lure her aching heart away from death.

Letting out a long, shaky breath, Monique dropped the box that she had been fidgeting with; to Coleen's horror, it had been a box of matches; then ran into the arms of the young woman and began to cry.

Not hesitating to wrap her arms around Mo's quivering form, Coleen couldn't help the sigh of relief that escaped her as the young teenager stood unharmed within her protective embrace.

"It's going to be okay," Coleen soothed. "You're safe."

"Not for long."

Tensing, Coleen immediately began to search around the junkyard as the deep sinister voice of a man penetrated the peace that had fallen.

"Ooh, you're scared… I like that." Coleen's eyes widened as what appeared to be a large sack man waddled into the cleaning. The young woman dragged Mo behind her, standing defensively in between the young teen and the laughing stranger.

"Who… or should I ask… WHAT are you?" Coleen narrowed her pale green eyes, wanting to hide how scared she was but not really believing she was succeeding.

_I know that laugh…_ Monique thought as she stared wide-eyed at the creature from behind Coleen.

"Ah ha, I'm the Pumpkin King. Oogie Boogie's the name and luck is my game. Although, in my game, NO ONE has luck except for yours truly. And how lucky could I possibly get by stumbling across Jackie's girlfriend and baby sisters?"

"Jack?"

"You're the one who murdered my brother!" In a fit of unexpected rage, Monique went around the young woman's body barrier and began to run at Oogie, but Coleen reached out and caught her arm, wrenching her back before she got seriously hurt.

"What can you do to me, little girl?" Oogie laughed mockingly. "It's amazing how you are so much like that skeleton brother of yours."

"Skeleton?"

"Ah ah, no more questions. I've been dying to torture someone tonight… and I think I just found two lucky contestants."

"Mo, run!" Grabbing firmly onto Mo's hand, Coleen began to run. She didn't know where, but it seemed Oogie Boogie wouldn't be able to catch them by running, so the farther away they got, the safer they were, right?

Wrong. As the two panting girls saw Lake Michigan through the piles of garbage, spikes sprouted up from the ground, blocking their escape routes. Coleen had to drag Mo down to the ground, both of them falling on their backs as they tried to avoid hitting the sudden threat.

More surprises followed as a long string of plastic shot out of a nearby junk pile, slithered quickly across the dirt ground, and wrapped around Monique's ankle.

"Coleen!" Just as quickly as it had appeared, the plastic rope disappeared, along with Monique, back into the garbage.

"Moni…" Coleen began to get up from the ground to go help the young teen, but was stopped when a soiled cloth wound its way around her head and firmly pressed against her mouth. She had to remind herself to breathe through her nostrils as a foot pressed down on her back, pinning her to the ground.

"You two," Oogie sneered above Coleen as he began to bind her hands together, "ain't going nowhere."


	20. Chapter 19: Jack!

**Author's Note: **Hiya, peoples! Okay, you all have permission to shun me now, for this is the second chapter in a row that I have posted up late. I hang my head in shame again... So, for the final chapter, I have decided to update it no later than next Wednesday (August 18). I'll probably post it up earlier than next Wednesday, but that is just an estimate of when my story will be complete. Hmm... I can't really think of anything else to say for this chapter, so thank you, all of my dedicated readers, for leaving your wonderful reviews, I apologize again for taking so long to update, and please read, review, and enjoy Ch. 19! Almost there!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Tim Burton's: The Nightmare Before Christmas. I just own the idea that I came up with based off of his brilliant work... and my own O.C.s of course. :)

**Big Battle Countdown: **THE NEXT CHAPTER! WOO HOO!

* * *

**Ch. 19 – Jack! **

Forty-five minutes… That was not nearly enough time to find his family, explain what had happened to him over the last year, AND tell them good-bye… for the last time. Forty-five minutes was not enough time to tell his non-biological brothers how right they had been. Forty-five minutes was not enough time to tell Coleen how much she meant to him. And forty-five minutes was definitely not enough time to hold his sister and tell her, with all of his non-beating heart that he loved her.

All of this went through Jack's skull as he gazed up towards a large glowing clock at the top of one of Chicago's tall buildings. 11:15… Forty-five minutes left and there was no one left on the city's streets to scare. No teenagers, no children, no families to frighten. No more innocent victims to be tricked by his creative illusions. Because of this, the skeleton wondered alone in the dark, slowly trudging down the sidewalk running along Michigan Avenue.

154. That was a pretty decent amount of people scared in just a few short hours. At least to him it was, but the real worry that bothered Jack was… was it enough? Would he return to Halloween Town as its new Pumpkin King? If so, what would happen? What would happen if he lost? What would Oogie Boogie do either way?

"Ugh, I think too much," Jack unleashed an imaginary sigh as he rubbed his aching skull with his right hand, his left one resting on his hip bone. Even though he had never had a care in the world when he was alive, Coleen had always told him that he worried too much. He now finally realized that she had been right. He was actually surprised he hadn't killed himself earlier with all the worrying he had done in the 24 years of his life, but most of his worries were directed towards others. His family, friends, neighbors. The rest was directed towards the economy, politics, reality. Never had he truly worried, nor really cared, about what happened to him. As long as those around him were happy, well, and safe, he was as right as rain.

That brought a smile to his face as Jack released a silent chuckle. Yes… he may not have the time to see his family, but he was sure they were safe. They wouldn't do anything reckless because of his death… would they?

Unleashed another sigh, Jack came back from his dreaming to see where his boney legs had taken him within the last few minutes. Startled, but not entirely surprised, the skeleton found himself standing at the entrance of Chicago's junkyard… the last place he had seen through live eyes. Now, he stood, staring through eye sockets, at the still-towering piles of garbage that encircled his resting place.

"Do they EVER get rid of this junk?" Jack wondered aloud as he found himself walking through the piles of leftover food, unrecycled cans and bottles, old toys, ratty clothes, the list could go on. It was like walking through a shopping center, only everything was free and in the worst possible condition you could possibly imagine. Those silly images soon faded though as the skeleton suddenly got that frightening sense of déjà vu again.

He could hear the dogs barking and Adin screaming as they nearly ripped him apart. He could hear Sam's desperate calls for help; he could see Momo crying as they both struggled to get out of their watery prison. He could hear the awful sneer of Oogie's laughter. Then, as he made his way into the large open area, where no trash littered the ground, he could see black marks scorching the dirt below him.

Those scorch marks signified that someone had died here, that someone had been mercilessly killed by the intense inferno of hell. That someone… was Jack. Kneeling down, he ran his boney hand across the ground, almost able to feel the unbearable pain, once again, of dying.

As Jack turned away from the sight, his hand suddenly traced over a small square object on the ground. Turning back, his eye sockets widened when he found a box of matches. He picked them up, gazed at them carefully, then looked around. No one was around, but some now noticeable footprints in the dirt signified that someone had been there… and not too long ago for that matter. He also saw a small black book that had almost gone unnoticed lying next to one of the nearby junk heaps.

Slowly walking over to it, the skeleton noticed a small white skull and crossbones sticker near the delicate spine of the book as he gently picked it up. He couldn't help but search around the junkyard for someone again as he opened the cover and found the passages on the first page to be crossed out. As a matter of fact, nearly every page had something scribbled or exed out. Staring past the thick layer of graphite that hid the untold messages, Jack suddenly felt as if he would just collapse into a pile of bones right then and there. He found a passage that had been circled and hesitantly read that as well. If he had been alive at that moment, he knew, for a fact, that his heart would've stopped beating.

The words… the handwriting these horrific passages were written in… the one who wanted to kill herself… was…

"Momo!" Jack cried out into the night, not caring who heard him. What mattered right now was his little sister. She was there… she was still alive… he knew it because if she had gone through with her suicide, there would've been a match missing from the brand new box he had found on the ground. There also would've been a… Jack shook his head to get rid of the terrible mental image that he never wanted to picture again. So, the question was: where was she now?

Focusing more on the footprints in the dirt now, Jack noticed that the cluttered prints seemed to space out more as he followed them further into the junkyard, as if the person belonging to them was running. Possibly running towards something… or running away from _someone_…

Oogie Boogie.

But there was more than one set of footprints in the dirt, meaning someone had come to stop Momo. But… who?

Suddenly, loud banging could be heard coming from ahead of Jack's urgent pace. It was coming from a nearby garbage pile… from an old refrigerator that seemed like it hadn't run for years. The skeleton ran over to it and wrenched the large door open. A woman was bound inside: her wrists and ankles tide together, a cloth tied firmly around her mouth and eyes, but Jack could still recognize the physical features… surprised at who he saw instead of who he expected.

"Coleen…" Jack noticed his whisper had reached the young woman's ears as her whole body tensed up, her head raised and facing the direction where she had heard his voice. Quickly untying the cloth and removing it from her mouth, Coleen had to take in a few deep breaths before she began to talk.

"Jack? Jack, is that you?" Her voice was like music to his ears, a broad smile crossing Jack's face as he began to untie the tight rope around her ankles. "For heaven's sake, whoever you are, answer me!"

"You don't have to act so brave, Scardy Cat. I know you're frightened, so quit acting so tough," Jack teased.

"Oh… my…" Coleen's jaw fell open as Jack began to work on her wrists, having made sure the cloth that covered her eyes stayed there… at least a little while longer… before he revealed what he was now and forever would be to her. "It can't be… I must be dead."

"If you were dead, I would never forgive myself. And yes, it is me, Coleen."

"But… how?"

"That's… kind of a long story that I really don't have the time to explain right now."

"Well, then, why are you keeping me in the dark?" Her hands finally free, Coleen quickly brought them up to the cloth shielding her vision. "I want to see…"

"Wait." Jack was faster as he placed his rather long boney fingers over Coleen's flesh-covered hands, stopping her.

"Your hands…"

"Listen to me," Jack could barely control the tone of his shaky voice, his body quivering as he touched his girlfriend for the first time in what seemed like an eternity, "I'll take that off for you, but you have to promise that no matter what you see before you, no matter how I look now, that you won't scream."

"Scream?" Coleen sounded frightened as Jack took her hands away from her face and helped her out of the cramped up old fridge until they stood, facing each other.

"Please, Coleen. I'm still dead. Like I said, long story, but please don't be scared. It's still me. Just, promise, please."

"Okay… I… promise."

"All right. Ready?" Not waiting for an answer, Jack untied the cloth from Coleen's head, twirling his fingers within her curly orange locks before revealing himself to her.

Coleen kept her promise. She didn't scream, but her reaction was a lot different then what Jack was expecting.

"Get… away from me." Pale green eyes wide with fear, the young woman backed away from the tall suited skeleton before her. "You're not Jack."

"Coleen, it's me… just without skin." He took a step towards her.

"Don't come any closer!" Frantically searching the junk pile behind her for a weapon, Coleen settled on a rusted frying pan that was lying on the ground near the refrigerator that had been her prison, holding it up for defense.

"Really? A frying pan?"

"Stop talking! Just stop! You're trying to lure me into a false sense of security and then you're going to eat my brains or something! Just, don't talk anymore, skeleton, don't talk!"

This whole situation would've actually been quite humorous for Jack if he didn't have to try so hard to convince her on who he really was. Eyebrow cocked, he began to walk towards her again. "Honey, zombies eat your brains, not skele…"

"Don't. Call. Me. Honey!"

Before Jack knew what was happening, Coleen had thrown the pan, with great accuracy, by the way, and had taken his head clean off his shoulders. And as she ran away, the skeleton's head lay in the dirt, a dumbfounded look of shock written all over his face as he stared as his still boney body towering above him.

"This is… new…"

Coleen ran as fast as she could in between the piles of garbage, wanting so desperately to get out, but not having the slightest clue as to where she should go.

"First that Boogeyman and now a skeleton?" She panted. "Well, at least knocking his head off should slow him down long enough to put enough distance between us."

How wrong she was as, out of the shadows of a junk heap, came two arms. She unleashed a startled scream as a skeleton wrapped its arms around her shoulders, realizing it was the same one as before. His head was back upon his scrawny neck, a look of determination clearly written upon his face as he held her close to him in a rather tight embrace.

"Coleen, remember me," Jack whispered into her ear.

Struggling against his hold at first, the young woman was surprised to suddenly feel the skeleton's tight grip loosen as he slowly traced her frail shoulders with his boney hands. He allowed his fingers to move around her body, taking in her features and, hopefully, showing her that she shouldn't be afraid of him.

"Really look at me."

Breathing heavily, Coleen hesitantly looked at the skeleton's face. He moved his fluid fingers up to her face, lightly touching her lips before gently caressing her cheeks.

"What do you see?"

At first, all she could see was a bone white skull and two empty sockets staring right through her. Then, as she narrowed her eyes, she swore she could almost see a hint of a sapphire ocean in those empty holes; a sapphire ocean that had once drowned her, but in a sea of protection and friendship. His voice, it sounded like the honey that used to flow from his lips before. Her hand instinctively went up to his boney cheek, tracing it, imagining the loose jet black hair that would tickle his skin until she brushed it away from him.

"Jack…"

"I told you," Jack smiled; relieved he had FINALLY gotten through as he took her hands within his, an act he hadn't been able to do for a long time.

"What… What happened to you?"

"I'll explain later, hopefully. Right now, I need you to explain something to me. I found the book. Where's Momo?"

"Mo," Coleen's eyes widened again as she remembered the harsh reality she was in where a young girl's life was still at risk of reaching an end that night. "I followed her here because I read the book, too. I managed to stop her, but then that… Boogeyman came, tied me up, and kidnapped her!"

"That's it," Jack growled as he led Coleen towards the shadows. "I swore I'd kill him if he ever hurt the children, but threatening to kill my sister? He's going to regret the day he EVER underestimated me."

"Wait, Jack!" Coleen pulled back as Jack's foot stepped into the shadows.

"What's wrong?"

"Where are you taking me?"

"We're traveling through the shadows. I can't really explain to you how it works right now, but trust me when I say that it's a fast way to travel and we have to find Momo FAST."

"But…"

"Coleen, please. The safest place for you right now is with me. I have 27 minutes to find Momo and beat the shit out of Oogie Boogie. You have nothing to be afraid of, I'll protect you."

Again, not waiting for an answer, Jack dragged Coleen into the dark shadows, becoming one with the night.

* * *

"Oh, come on, little girl. I'm giving you a free one-way ticket to see your brother, yet you refuse." Arms crossed, Oogie Boogie paced back and forth along the bank of Lake Michigan. Kneeling on the ground beside him, tied up and able to do nothing but glare at the sack of bugs, was young Monique Shelton. Her long black hair draped unneatly before her face as her sapphire eyes slowly followed the "King" in between each thin strand. "Why are you hesitating?"

"Wanting to see my brother was a choice I had made," Monique spat, "and as I look back on it… a stupid choice. Why, if I have chosen to live, agree to someone else having the pleasure of killing me just for their own benefit?"

"Hmph, smart mouth… I like that," Oogie sneered as he approached the kneeling teenager and gently stroked her chin. "Why not come to Halloween Town and become my queen?"

"Ah, gosh! Seriously? Gross!"

"Now don't be like that. Come on, what is your real answer?"

Monique's eyes narrowed even more as she shot as much venom as she could muster towards Oogie. "I would rather rot."

Oogie narrowed his empty eyes just as venomously as he released his hold on her face and slowly walked behind her, disappearing from sight. "Well, that can definitely be arranged."

Before she could question his motives, Monique felt a sudden sharp tug on her bindings as something clamped tightly onto her. Then, she unleashed a startled scream as she was slowly lifted into the air, stopping only when her feet were a couple of feet off the ground. Oogie reappeared, now eye level with the frightened teenager.

"Do you see those pits over there?" Physically turning her head for her, Oogie directed Monique's attention to three square holes in the ground to her right, just opposite of the dark lake that lay to her left.

"What… What about them?" Monique tried to regain control of her emotions, but fear was quickly beginning to consume her.

"Those three pits, little girl, contain three different ways for you to, how shall we say, 'rot'. Your choices are: drowning in water, attacked by scorpions and spiders, or burning in boiling oil. Which will it be?"

"Uh… neither?"

"Ha! No chance that I'm letting you decide your fate. That would take the fun out of my game. So, touch luck, sister! Oh, wait, I forgot, you don't HAVE any luck when you play by MY rules." The clicking of dice being rolled together within a cupped hand filled the silent night air as Oogie continued to laugh at the young teenager's ever-widening eyes. "Fear… I like that."

"How about fire?"

A small Jetstream of fire suddenly shot out of the darkness and began to lick at Oogie's right arm. The inferno enjoyed the taste of the sack that covered the King's body, making itself comfortable on his arm as it began to help itself to a delightful treat.

"Ah!" Oogie slapped his flaming arm with his free hand, growling as he realized who had just joined the party. "You always have the worst timing, don't you, Jack?"

Monique perked up at the sound of her brother's name and was very surprised to see a rather tall skeleton in a pinstriped suit followed closely behind by Coleen emerge from the surrounding shadows.

"Actually, Oogie, when it comes to whatever you have in store for someone," Jack started as he flicked a match into the dirt, "I prefer to be early."

"Hmph, another smart-mouthed Shelton. I can see how you two are related."

A silent moment soon followed as Jack's empty eye sockets locked with his little sister's pale frightened eyes. He hadn't been this close to her since he died and now, she was on the verge of being lost to this world too. No way in hell was he about to let that happen.

"Jack… Is that… really you in there?"

"Silence, little girl," Oogie snapped, "No one worth to hear your voice. And as for you, my dear," he glared at Coleen who cowered behind Jack, "I'll deal with you later."

Taking a defensive step forward, Jack protectively kept his girlfriend behind him. "You will not touch her again, or my sister, for that matter."

Raising an arm, Oogie began to jab mockingly at Monique's dangling form. "Touch. Touch. Touch."  
"Oogie, quit your childish games!" Jack growled, watching the pain in his sister's face every time the sack of bugs touched her.

"All right," Oogie sneered as he revealed a small control panel from Monique's jean pocket, "then let's just skip ahead to the good stuff, shall we?" Then, with the push of a single button, the crane that now held the young teenager began to lift her higher and higher into the air.

"Jack!"

"Get your sweetie out of the way, Jack. You don't want her to get hurt when I kill you again, now, do you?"

"Don't worry about Mo, Jack," Coleen assured as she placed a delicate hand upon the skeleton's shoulder, not wanting him to take his gaze off of the deranged sack of bugs in front of them. "I'll get her down. You take care of him."

"Oh, I plan on it," Jack narrowed his empty sockets. "Please, be careful."

"Worry about him right now."

"Are you ready to play again, Jack?"

"It's over, Oogie! You're killing spree ends now!"


	21. Chapter 20: Stored Memories

**Author's Note:** Hiya, peoples! YES! I stayed true to my deadline for my last chapter! I've actually had this done for a couple days now, but have only just now been able to post it up. 7 hours and 17 pages front and back later, this is the battle I came up with. I'm quite proud of it and it's all thanks to you guys! Thank you so much for leaving me ideas to write for this battle and I really can't wait to hear what you guys think of it! :) I can't believe that this is it... this and the epilogue! After two years... I'm finally done! Wow, thank you to everyone who has been with me since day one or who are now just picking up on it. Don't worry, I'll be putting up EVERYBODY'S name who favorited, reviewed, and alerted my story. It will be in no particular order and if I have forgotten your name or you favorite, review, and/or alert my story in the future, I thank you now, for I won't be able to add your name into my thank you list. But, yeah, if you haven't read my completed Zelda story, my very last chapter is where I thank everybody! :) I'm probably repeating myself right now, but you know what? I DON'T CARE! It's 1:30 in the morning and I'm freaking done!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own anything from Tim Burton's: The Nightmare Before Christmas and I still have yet to send that letter...

* * *

**Ch. 20 – Stored Memories**

It had barely been five minutes and Jack was already exhausted. The multiple rips in his pinstriped suit and the scattered chips and knicks he had tattooed on his bones signified that the skeleton was really struggling. Oogie Boogie was hurtling hell at him so fast that he hadn't gotten a chance to counterattack, let alone even THINK about a possible way TO counterattack.

The towering piles of garbage served as temporary refuge areas for Jack to seek shelter behind. Keyword: TEMPORARY, for the garbage towers never lasted long and were rapidly depleting in numbers due to the Pumpkin King's "tricks".

"You're running out of hiding places, Jackie." Jack closed his eyes, swallowing hard as Oogie's laughter drifted through the air towards him. "You got a six this time. Don't you want to know what you won?" As if on cue, a sharp tip that resembled the blade of the Grim Reaper's shot out of the garbage right next to the skeleton's left shoulder, an aluminum Dr. Pepper can pierced through and dangling from the blade's fine tip. That was soon followed by more blades: one by Jack's right hip bone, another right above his skull, one knicking his left ankle, and the last going right between his legs.

_Oh… crap…_ Was the only thought that ran through Jack's mind as his wide eye sockets stared at the multiple blades that could probably penetrate through his bone body like tissue paper. _Okay, Jack, pull it together. _He shook his head as he reached into his suit jacket and revealed his illusion camera. _You're just gonna have to improvise… and pray that it works. _

"You missed me, Oogie!" Jack shouted, trying to mask the nervous tone in his voice as he walked out from behind the pile of garbage and faced the sack of bugs that stood twenty feet in front of him. "I think it's time you moved from that spot!"

"On the contrary, Jack, I think we should stay right here. This next surprise is really gonna 'cut you down to size'," Oogie sneered as he gazed towards the sky ABOVE the skeleton's head.

Knowing better than to be slow around the Pumpkin King, Jack quickly craned his neck and discovered a large guillotine blade suspended by a chain hovering over his head. The chain links, of course, couldn't hold up the heavy weapon for long as the weak links tore away from each other and sent the blade crashing downward.

Jack was already way ahead of it as he rolled forward, landing ungracefully on his stomach as the blade sliced deep into the dirt earth behind him. Spotting his chance to act as Oogie fumed like a child, the skeleton turned his machine on from his place on the cold ground and pointed it towards the large sack of bugs.

"Let's see you 'sink' into this one, Oogie!"

A bright purple-blue light shot out from the small machine's lens, engulfing the ground beneath Oogie until the solid dirt began to liquefy, creating a sand pit that began to swallow the Pumpkin King whole.

"Hmm, not bad, Jack," Oogie laughed, not sounding the least bit worried as the quicksand hugged his large belly. "But your tricks are merely illusions that don't last long. Mine, on the other hand, last and definitely leave an impact on people, don't they?"

Jack narrowed his eye sockets at the sack of bugs as he rose to his feet, knowing that he was talking about what he had done to him a year ago.

"Ah ha! Oh, yes, you remember. Now, here's a little something to REALLY sink your teeth into."

Not wanting to take his eyes off of Oogie, Jack used his peripheral vision to try and see what was coming his way this time, but all he could see was garbage, dirt, and more garbage. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary… Wait! The skeleton perked up as he heard glass bottles clanking together nearby. Something was there and it was…

"Ah!" Jack unleashed a startled scream as something tightly clamed onto his right ankle. Tearing his gaze away from Oogie, he saw his foot in one of those metal foot traps that people mostly use to capture bears and it was… snarling at him? The thing was growling like a dog as it tried to thrash the skeleton around that it had clamped within its jaws.

Jack definitely underestimated the little guy's strength as it easily brought him crashing to the ground and slammed him into the dirt a few times before finally flinging him into a distant garbage pile. The skeleton soon disappeared from sight as the trash that rested higher upon the tower came crashing down to earth.

With the purplish-blue illusion light now gone, the quicksand pit had turned back into its original solid dirt state. Twisting and turning till the ground broke apart around him, Oogie struggled to hoist his large body out of his chest deep hole.

"Is that… umf… all you've… oof… got, Jack? Guess you really were just… unn… all talk and no… Agh! Will someone get me out of this hole?"

"I'll _gladly _help you out, Oogie." The sound of the sarcasm that thickly lathered the skeleton's voice was enough to make the Pumpkin King wish he had used something more powerful to throw the skeleton with, but what could he do? His tricks were in each roll of his dice and the bear traps were his designated number ten. Although he couldn't really complain; it HAD thrown the bag of bones a good few feet. Musing to himself as to what illusion the rookie had in store next, Oogie soon found himself frozen in, yes, fear as Jack emerged from the junk pile, two pairs of old silver scissors glistening in the moonlight as he approached the sack of bugs with a very menacing look on his face.

"I'll take you out of there… piece by piece."

* * *

"I hate heights, Coleen! Especially ones where I'm dangling over three pits of death! Get me down from here!" Monique kicked her legs as she began to panic, staring at the dirt ground and the three "fun-filled" holes that awaited her fifty feet below.

"Would you stop moving? I've never worked a crane before!" Coleen called out to the young dangling teenager as she sat in the large seat of the construction crane, staring dumbfounded at all of the orange levers before her.

"You would be moving too if you were in my position! Just pick one!"

"And possibly send you plummeting to your death? I don't think so!"

"Then what do you suggest we do?"

Eyes darting frantically around the small sitting box, Coleen could find neither labels nor any instruction manuals on how to work the machine. So, dreading on what she knew she would have to do to save Mo, the young woman exited the sitting box and slowly stepped onto the long tilted metal beam that supported the cable of the crane.

"What are you doing?"

"Climbing! What does it look like I'm doing?"

"Are you crazy?"

"Apparently not crazy enough!"

"You're putting yourself in danger, too! You know that, right?"

"I'd rather risk losing my own lift than risk losing yours by trying to guess how to operate this thing! Now can you please stop talking so I can concentrate on climbing this thing so I don't kill myself BEFORE I even get to you?'

Seeing the reason, but not the logic behind Coleen's motives, Monique respected her wishes and clamped her mouth together, watching the young orange-haired woman slowly climb up the crane.

The small metal bars that zigzagged up the machine really helped to serve as a type of ladder for Coleen as she slowly scooted her way up. Though the higher she got, the narrower the beam became… And the higher she got, the farther the ground was from her dangling feet. Sweat beaded her forehead as her hands began to shake, her movements decreasing more and more in speed.

As the young woman was now only a couple of feet away from the cable of the crane, Monique could tell how nervous Coleen was, which was, in turn, making her extremely nervous for her friend. Wanting to distract herself from the task at hand, the young teenager decided to check on her… brother.

She still couldn't believe that her brother was a skeleton! It had seemed so unreal, yet when he stood before her just minutes earlier, she had felt a familiar presence: one she had known her entire life, but had been missing from her home and her heart for a year. And now, he was fighting that… thing to save her and Coleen about fifty feet down and, to Monique's horror, gazed down just in time to see the Boogeyman in a sinking pit and to watch her brother crash into a pile of garbage.

"Jack!"

"Ah!" Hearing the familiar scream of her friend, Monique quickly looked up to see Coleen now dangling right above her from the tip of the crane. "I told you not to talk! Especially yell!"

"Oh, Coleen, I'm so sorry!"

"Well, since I'm, you know, down here, let's see what I can do," Coleen took in a few shaky breaths, urging herself not to look down as she focused on the thick rope that wound around Monique's wrists and the crane hook. "Okay, getting you off of the crane will be easy, it's getting your hands untied that's the trick, and I'm kind of in no position to be untying knots right now."

"Can you maybe… hang upside down from your legs?"

"Honey, my legs feel like Jell-O. There's no way that they're going to keep me up…"

Suddenly, the crane machine began to vibrate, signifying that it was on. Then, the cable holding Monique began to lower her down towards the three pits of death awaiting her below.

"AH!"

* * *

"N-Now, come on, J-Jack," Oogie stammered, unable to take his eyes off of the scissors' blades whenever Jack opened and closed them. "I-I'm sure we could work something out."

"Not. Likely." Jack stated slowly, the moon casting shadows below his narrowed eye sockets. "You're not going anywhere this time until you have been brought to justice. You're torturing days are…"

"AH!"

The all-too-familiar scream of his little sister caused Jack to look up towards the sky where the crane held her captive. To his horror, Coleen was dangling from the top of the metal beam and the cable supporting the crane's hook was slowly lowering Monique towards one of three deaths.

"Coleen! Momo!"

"Distraction is your weak point, isn't it, Jack?"

Hating himself for looking away, Jack soon felt two thick wires wrap around his wrists and force him to kneel onto the ground. Two sixes stared up at him from a pair of red die as he tried to pinpoint where exactly the black wires were coming from.

"Kneeling before your king?" A large body soon loomed over Jack, its hand roughly grabbing his chin and forcing him to gaze into the face of the creature he had come to despise. "How very touching. Oh, but it looks like you got the worst of my tricks. Twelve can be a pretty nasty number."

"It can't be as nasty as what you did to me before," Jack spat. "Face it, Oogie, I know almost all of your tricks."

"Not ALL of my tricks," in Oogie's free hand, Jack noticed the small remote that controlled the crane his sister was tied to. He HAD to get that remote.

"What else could you possibly have in store?"

"Brace yourself, Jackie. You might find this trick to be quite 'shocking'."

The crackle of static could be heard as small white sparks flickered along the wires fastened to Jack's wrists. As soon as Oogie released the hold he had upon his skull, the skeleton received a full electric shock.

"Oh, do you really like it?" Oogie laughed as Jack screamed. "I thought I would get you something new this time."

Pain… For the first time since he had died, Jack felt physical, unbearable pain. He couldn't move, couldn't talk, couldn't think. The only thing he could do, was scream.

* * *

"Oh… my…" Coleen and Monique watched in horror as Jack was tied to two brightly glowing wires, kneeling on the ground and screaming in pain.

"Coleen! We have to get down there! We have to help Jack!"

"But what can we do?"

"We'll figure it out on the way!" Hot tears stung the edges of Monique's now bright sapphire eyes as she clenched her teeth together. "I'm not going to watch my brother die again!"

An equal look of determination now on her face, Coleen focused her mind on saving Jack as she cautiously let go of the metal beam and clung onto the thick cable supporting the crane's hook and Monique. It was straining under the weight, but it would hold long enough.

"Okay, Mo. I'm going to swing you towards the water pit. If I can get a good enough swing, we should be able to land on the ground next to the hole."

"Sounds like a plan. Just, please steer clear of the scorpions, spiders, and boiling oil."

With a quick nod, Coleen began to sway, moving her body back and forth until she really began to start swinging.

"Whoa, Coleen, stop! I'm slipping off of the hook! Stop…"

A sudden jerk on the cable made Coleen lose her grip and caused Monique to fly off of the hook, sending both of them plummeting the remained ten feet they had left from the ground.

Coleen made it to solid ground, getting the wind knocked out of her as she landed harshly upon her stomach. As she gasped in air and dirt, she suddenly heard a splash behind her. Forgetting about her own pain, the young woman shifted herself around until she faced the pit of water, its once crystal surface now rippling from the aftershock of a splash.

"No… I didn't untie her!" Scrambling to her feet, Coleen took a deep breath before disappearing into the pit.

* * *

Grinding teeth, clenched fists, shut eye sockets, nothing was working to relieve the pain that Jack had coursing throughout his entire body. He couldn't take much more nor did he know how much more his body COULD take.

The faint sound of a splash reached his ears through his scream and the electricity. Forcing an eyelid open, he gazed through blurry vision towards his girls. Coleen was on the ground, in pain, but alive… but where was Momo? Both eye sockets were suddenly wide open as he realized where his sister was, and his girlfriend jumping into the water pit only confirmed his fear.

"Well, it looks like you'll be seeing your sister AND your girlfriend when we return, Jack. Oh, wait, I forgot. You won't BE coming back with us. Don't worry, though," Oogie pretended to straighten himself up as a sly smile crept across his face, "I'll take _good_ care of them for you."

A flame suddenly began to form within Jack's empty chest. A flame so powerful that it melted away all of the pain that he had been feeling from the electric shocks. A flame so intense that it didn't' stay, it exploded within him. That inferno of hatred formed as the skeleton could only imagine what Oogie would do to his girls and he WOULD NOT allow it.

"What the?" Oogie was taken aback as, right before his empty eyes, Jack Skellington rose from the ground and stood up straight and tall on his own two feet. "That's not possible!"

"Is it?" Jack said calmly, clenching his left hand into a fist before jerking it free from the electric wire. "I think it just might be." Doing likewise with his right hand, the skeleton was now free as he slowly began walking towards Oogie Boogie.

"But," Oogie stammered as he began to back up towards a dock that wondered out into Lake Michigan, "Every one of my victims who has ever gotten a twelve has fallen!"

"Not this skeleton. I'm the LAST victim you'll ever kill. It's over."

Reaching the edge of the small wooden dock, Oogie had nowhere else to go… except forward. "Well, Jack, it looks like you have me cornered. But you've forgotten something…" Catching Jack off guard, the sack of bugs bumped his large belly out, knocking the skeleton flat on the ground, "It ain't over till the fat lady sings!"

Jack was surprised that the sack of bugs still had this much fight in him as Oogie jumped into the air and prepared to do a body slam on his boney body. Rolling out of the way at the last second, the skeleton soon heard a crash as wooden floor boards splintered and gave way beneath Oogie's weight and was then followed by an even bigger splash as he disappeared into the dark lake.

Being careful not to roll into the lake himself, Jack slowly propped himself up and leaned over to gaze into the decent-sized hole Oogie made in the dock. What surprised the skeleton more than the unexpected last-attempt attack was that the sack of bugs surfaced. Who knew that he could even float!

"I bet you were hoping I had drowned, Jack."

"To be completely honest, yes."

"Well, I will gladly burst your bubble. I can't drown. I'm already dead."

"I am, too, yet you tried to kill me again."

"Drowning is a death for the living, not for the dead who don't NEED air!" Oogie began to laugh as he flopped around in the dark water.

Suddenly, a mahogany snake-like rope slowly began to creep out of the water right next to Oogie. As it came out more, the more it resembled a dead tree branch. It then twisted around the sack of bug's left arm.

"What? No! You can't take me back!" Oogie cried as another branch came up and wrapped around his other arm. "No! I can't have lost! NO!" With one last shout, Oogie Boogie was dragged under the surface, only ripples remained of where he once had been.

"Lost?" Jack stared at the water, a confused look on his face. "I…won?"

"You did it, Jack!"

"What did you win?"

Jerking his head up, Jack saw Monique and Coleen, soaked to the bone, running towards him.

"Momo! Coleen!" Hoisting himself to his feet and avoiding Oogie's hole, Jack quickly closed the gap between them as he scooped up Monique in his arms then wrapped a free arm around Coleen, embracing them both in an awkward, yet loving hug. "Are you two alright? Nothing broken? Nothing missing?"

"We're fine, Jack," Monique cried, unleashing her bottled up tears as she tightened her hold on her older brother. "Thanks to you."

If Jack could've cried, he knew he would've broken down right then and there as he brought his girls closer to him. He had dreamed of this moment for so long and now… it was really happening.

"Not that it's over, can you please tell us what just happened?" Coleen spoke in what seemed like a distant voice, completely forgetting about Jack's appearance and feeling rather content just being within his embrace.

"Oh, right, I owe you an explanation," Jack smiled as he set Monique back on the ground and made eye contact with both her and Coleen. "You're not going to believe this, but Sam and Adin were right!"

"About penguins taking over the world?"

"No…"

"Oh, please don't tell me that Megan Fox is going to clone herself?"

"… No… About the holiday worlds. They really exist! When I died, I woke up, in a matter of speaking, in Halloween Town. That sack of bugs I was fighting was Oogie Boogie. He was the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town…"

"And now you are," Coleen interrupted. "That's what you won, right?"

"I'm… pretty sure."

"Oh, you'll have to tell us more about Halloween Town when we get home!" Monique exclaimed as she took her brother's boney hand. "Everyone will be so happy to see you!"

That pain in his chest of his non-existing heart breaking began to surface as he brought his sister to a halt after she had taken one step. "Momo, wait."

"What is it, Jack?" Every time she said his name was like music to his ears as he knelt down to the ground to be at eye level with her.

"I…" He stammered as he took both of her small wet hands within his, "I can't go home with you."

"What? Why not?"

"I'm only allowed in the land of the living till midnight," Jack didn't know what time it was now, nor did he want to check, for he wanted to savor this final moment. "I don't have much time left, so I'll say what I have to say now. When I return to Halloween Town… I'm going to forget you guys."

The girls looked at Jack as if they'd been shot in the heart. They had finally gotten to see their beloved brother and boyfriend again and now… they were going to lose him again?

"Is this some requirement to become the king of the town?"

"Jack…"

"No, this is my choice. This past year has been painfully hard on me and the only way I can carry on… is to leave the memories of my life behind."

"You aren't the only one hurting, Jack!" Monique sobbed, her hands now clenched into fists at her sides. "This year has been the hardest one yet and there'll be plenty more, but why must you forget about us?"

"Speaking of hard year… Monique, I read your book…"

Monique cringed at the sound of her brother's stern voice. He only spoke like that to her and used her full name whenever he was disappointed in something she had done. Or, in this case, something she had almost done. "I'm sorry, Jack."

The young teenager was suddenly caught off guard as Jack wrapped his long boney arms around her, embracing her in another tight hug, only thing time, a frightened one.

"I would've been sorry if Coleen hadn't been around. Don't ever scare me like that again."

"You won't remember if I do."

"Momo, please! My worst fear became a reality and I don't want it to happen to you as well."

"But it did, Jack, the same night yours came true… I lost you."

Jack grew silent as he pulled away from his little sister. As he stood up, a distant clock began to chime. Midnight.

_No… Not yet…_

"You have to go now, don't you?" Coleen whispered, a single tear rolling down her cheek.

There just wasn't enough time to say everything he wanted say before he left as he wiped the tear away with his thumb.

"Go home before you catch a cold in those wet clothes. Tell everyone what you saw tonight. Tell Sam and Adin that they were right. Tell everyone that I love them. Promise me no more reckless stunts. And promise me that you two will live again."

Coleen and Monique both simultaneously hugged Jack one last time. "Only if you promise us you'll live again as well… on the other side."

"I promise."

The final chime sounded as November 1st began.

"I love you…" Jack's words drifted away with the wind as he disappeared from the weeping girls' arms.

"We love you, too."

* * *

"Coleen! Monster!" Still in costume, Sam and Adin ran out into the darkness of the very early morning towards the two wet and shivering girls walking down South Prairie Avenue. "We've been looking for you everywhere!"

Sam had ditched the cardboard boxes of his costume as he wrapped his arms around Coleen, trying to warm her with his body heat as they continued towards the only lit house on the block. Adin did the same with Monique, using his orange, striped sweatshirt as a coat for her as he wrapped it around her shoulders and picked her up in his arms.

"Where the hell have you been?"

"Just out for a walk," Coleen shivered.

"And swim," Monique tried to joke, but with little success.

"Monster, we've been waiting for hours," Adin's voice held a worried tone. "Then, we go into your room and find you gone!"

"She, uh," Coleen interrupted, trying to cover for Monique's suicidal attempts, "just needed a little fresh air to calm herself down or else she was going to lose it during her presentation to…"

"It's okay, Coleen," Monique whispered as she held up a shaky hand to the young woman. She was ready to go to bed, but she was going to keep the promise she had made to her brother. "Let's get home, dry off, and then, we'll tell them everything."

* * *

As the pumpkin sun began to rise on November 1st, there was no big celebration for the new Pumpkin King. No, what was happening in the town square… was a banishment, an act never done before in Halloween Town history. The town had finally had the chance to witness EVERYTHING that Oogie had done and were now ready to be rid of him.

Within the metallic walls of Dr. Finklestein's laboratory, Jack Skellington gazed through the building's large barred window, arms crossed, down at the crowd gathered in the square.

"And so," the Mayor concluded after having listed Oogie's charges and so on and so forth… for two hours… "I give the authority as Mayor for Halloween town and its citizens to banish Oogie Boogie to the most desolate region of this world. Never to return here again."

Tied down to a wagon by the dead branched that had dragged him back, Oogie met the gazes of the citizens who used to be his most loyal fans, now glaring at him with disgust and hatred.

"Oh, citizens of Halloween Town," Oogie's voice boomed for all to hear as the wagon carrying him began to wheel itself out of the main gate, "You haven't heard the last of me. I will return. Did you hear that, Jackie? I will return!"

Even though Oogie was unable to see it, Jack cast a final glare out at his disappearing form, the new additional duty of protection now added onto his role as king. "I'd love to see you try."

"Jack?" The skeleton turned away from the window to find Sally peeking into the large bedroom. "He's ready for you."

Nodding, Jack silently followed the blue rag doll across the hallway into the doctor's lab. Dr. Finklestein himself was waiting beside one of his metallic operation tables, a small black helmet connected to some wires resting near the top of the flat surface.

"I'm going to have you lying flat for this operation, Jack," Dr. Finklestein said. "How this is going to work is that I'm going to transfer your memories of when you were alive to this little box right here," he gestured to a plain silver box no bigger than a GameCube console sitting upon a small cart next to Jack's table.

"Transfer?" Jack asked. "But, I thought…"

"You really don't want to get rid of your memories, my boy, yet you feel as if you must. I could tell moment you returned here this morning. So, your memories will be in this box. They will be safe and no harm will come to them. When you feel as if you are ready to handle them again, we'll put them right back."

"Doctor…" Jack couldn't express what he was feeling at the moment. Overwhelmed? Overjoyed? Both?

"You don't have to say anything, my boy," the doctor motioned towards the helmet, "just lie down."

Sitting down on the edge of the table first, Jack made sure that the black helmet was securely fastened to his skull before stretching out along its cool metallic surface.

"I'm ready, doctor. Let's do this."

"Okay. This won't take long at all. You are going to feel a slight pinch, but that should be all," curling his small fingers around a tiny lever resting on the side of the memory box, he waited a couple seconds before pushing it down. "Here we go."

"Ow!"

"Done."

"A _slight_ pinch, doctor?"

"Sorry," the doctor apologized as he helped remove the small helmet from Jack's equally small skull. "I wasn't sure how much of a pinch you were going to get. How do you feel?"

Jack looked around confused as he sat up. "As opposed to…"

"Did this even work?"

"Did what work?"

Dr. Finklestein wheeled himself to the small memory box. A small green circle was glowing beside the lever he had pulled. "The memories should be in there."

"Memories of who, doctor?"

"You should know of all creatures, my boy. Memories of when you were alive."

Jack opened his mouth to talk, but found himself speechless. Covering his mouth with his hand, he allowed his eyelids to shut as he thought silently for a moment. "And… when was that?"

"You don't remember when you died?"

"No… Should I?"

"What is the name of your sister?"

"I have a sister?"

"What was your last name when you were alive?"

"It's Skellington. Always has been."

"Where did you used to live?"

"Is that supposed to be a tough question?"

"What were your parent's names?"

"Why are you asking so many questions?"

"Oh, my little creation," Dr. Finklestein beamed as he held the small memory box in his arms, admiring its metallic wonder. "Why did I ever doubt one of MY creations? Each one is flawless and always functions properly. I'll keep to my word, Jack. Your memories are safe with me."

"What… What word? What memories? Why? When? You? Ugh…" Jack slouched forward, allowing his arms to dangle down to the floor.

Dr. Finklestein wheeled to Jack's side and began to pat his skull. "Let your mind rest now, my boy. I'll explain everything later. But can you tell me… do you remember ANYTHING that happened within the past 24 hours?"

"Hmm… Well, I do remember one thing."

"And what's that?"

A broad smile crossed his face as Jack stood up straight and tall. "That I am the Pumpkin King! Ha ha ha ha ha!"

* * *

**Author's P.S:** Okay, so the last line, I kind of stole from the video game. Jack says this when he does this really cool spinning move with his soul robber and I love listening to him say it! I couldn't resist. :)


	22. Poem: 15 Years Later

**Author's Note:** Hiya, peoples! Well, this is it... it's going to be really weird not writing this story anymore... *sniff* Almost makes me sad... That's okay, I'll get over it. I'll just write something new. Yeah, that'll make me feel much better. Anyway, once again, thank you so much, everyone, for all of your support and reviews! You've really encouraged me to go all the way with an idea that I thought would NEVER turn into this story, but I'm SO glad it did! :) Look for your name below and I'll probably see you guys sooner than you think...

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing of Tim Burton's: The Nightmare Before Christmas. This is my last TNBC disclaimer... or is it?

**Thank Yous:** Alright, we have a long list here, so here we go. Thank you to: **AeroplaneJelly, Bookworm371, Butchee, cinderpelt12323, craZ4knux, DanceLikeNo1sWatching, dark digidestined, Darkestposion, destinedtoflly, devilmaycry1296, Diana26.5, emoxoxtears, envygreeneyes, evilquail, fantasticpanda101, Flygon Pirate, GreyFitti, griZzlyAngel, HalfDemonMica, HearltessLittleHamster, hikari123, I play wid fir3, Katieghost, Kawaiibookworm, KissTheLibrarian, Knut Case, LCM DoePatronus, lilusagi12, M. Nigh Wolfalona, marshMello6170, me-loves-demon-barber, meaara, Midna Hytwilian, mrmistoffelees, PanLin Yee, Ponki, queensaya, QueenSkellington, RedEyesGreenSkin, RedSoxChic193, Savage Tranquility, Serenity Morningstar, SilvershockInc, Skellington girl, Skellington Potter, SpiritGirl183, SuIC: Dal EmO Chick, Szahara again, tattooedrory, Wolfstorm 7, Writerdragon, xXMoruni-TakanaraXx, XxNinja3x3xX, YPHDrummer, joyousrebellion, KazTheStoryCat101, dogrox, sarasticks, shockinglyawesome, sunkissedvampire, kaialone02, Miss Jaq Nightmare, Violet Anaxandra Blood, Tigerblossom, thepenultimatefailure, Harmony Stanzer, KHwhitelion, Kiekye, ladybirdbuzz, MirriL, Miss Becca-Emmett Urie, Prisoner of Pain, Remy BloodWolf, Rosaka - The Open Door, Snicker212, stabbythings, thegypsy, UnicronFoal, xXRavenKnightXx, SocialMoth, Nessie Espinosa, Keltic Cat, HamPickleSandwich, Gothgirl777, Dominosowner, xSteffers, dreaming of ravens in night, anacsadder, TricksterJaq. **Woo, alright, that's all the names I could find. Please forgive me if I might have spelled your name wrong. Can't read my own hand writing right now. *laughs nervously* And, as I mentioned in the last chapter, thank you to anyone who favorites, reviews, and/or alerts my story in the future and I apologize that I can't put your name on this list. All of you know who you are. Thank you, one last time, my dedicated, wonderful, fabulous, encouraging, amazing, awesome readers! You guys totally rock! Gamegirl27, saying goodbye and God bless!

* * *

**Epilogue – 15 Years Later**

_So that's Jack Skellington's story, you see_

_Now he's living with no past memories_

_Erased of everything of what was then and what was_

_Forgotten were those, the cherished people he loved_

_And although the outcome may seem dim_

_Things are going quite well for him_

_Oogie was banished to the far reaches of town_

_And no one has heard from him, not one sound_

_Now Jack reigns high as the new Pumpkin King_

_And his life is now very much to his liking_

_But our big story isn't over just yet_

_He may have forgotten, but we'll never forget…_

_So if you think you can't be scared_

_I will warn you, be prepared_

_For if you're out on Halloween night,_

_The King will come to give you a fright_

_And if you think if any other_

_Just ask me… because he's my brother_

"_This is Halloween, this is Halloween, Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween!"_

The flaming scarecrow leapt from the back of his steed made from hay and disappeared with a splash into the green liquid of the town square fountain.

"_In this town we call home, everyone hail to the pumpkin song."_

"_La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la, Halloween! Halloween!" _

"_La-la-la la la la-la-la- la la la…"_

As Halloween Town's citizens' chants increased in volume, Jack Skellington rose from the murky water of the fountain where the flaming scarecrow had disappeared. A broad smile crossed his face as he stretched his arm out, welcoming yet another glorious Halloween.

"_La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la, Halloween! Halloween!"_

"_La-la-la la la la-la la la"_

"_WHEEEE!"_

"I believe it was our most horrible yet! Thank you, everyone!"

**The End**

**

* * *

****Author's Surprise:** Alright, do you guys remember how I mentioned a surprise in one of my latest chapters (I believe Ch. 19 or somewhere around then it was mentioned), well... here it is. This ISN'T the end! I'm writing a sequel to **A Walk in the Dark!** I know you're all so excited! Now, before you start moaning and groaning, here's a little sneak preview as to what it will be about. The sequel is called** A Walk in the Wrong World** and it's going to be a story about Monique. It begins where she's an old woman dying on a hospital bed. Her heart stops as the clock strikes midnight... on the 14th... What holiday lands on the 14th? :) Well, you're all smart people so I'm not going to tell you what holiday that is. If you REALLY can't figure it out, Google it. Google knows ALL! So the next story will be mostly about Monique, but Jack will be in there along with more Halloween Town citizens, a bunch of OCs, my attempt at making up what I believe happens in the holiday world mentioned(this is going to be fun!), and... SINGING! I'm working on writing some original songs for the characters to sing in my story and, don't worry, Jack's going to sing too. :) If you'd like, please check it out. I have the prologue up right now so let me know what you think for the beginning. If you REALLY don't want to read it, I completely understand that, as well. Do whatever floats your boat! Adios! **  
**


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